A series of airgun shootings in Aberdeen have prompted renewed calls for a city-wide ban on the weapons.
Police have arrested three men in connection with a number of incidents involving plastic airgun pellets being fired from a vehicle.
The shootings happened at the Bridge of Don, in the city centre, and at the beach and harbour areas during the night. Two 17-year-olds and a 21-year-old have been arrested.
Constable John Ritchie, who is investigating the case, said: “Although no one was injured during these incidents, this was clearly distressing for those affected.
“The pellets were fired from a vehicle and we are keen to speak to any other victims who have yet to come forward.”
The incidents have sparked fresh calls for legislation covering the weapons to be tightened up.
Councillor Norman Collie tabled a motion at a city council meeting in 2007 calling on Aberdeen to become the first city in Scotland to outlaw airguns. “I’ve had extreme difficulties trying to get a ban,” the Tillydrone, Seaton and Old Aberdeen councillor said.
“According to the officers dealing with the motion, it is very difficult for the procurator fiscal to do anything in court with a ban on the guns.
“What we are doing now is contacting the Scottish Government to see if they are looking to do what I was trying to do.”
The Labour councillor added that he had not given up hope of getting a ban in place. Campaigns to ban the weapons in Scotland followed shock in 2005 at the death of two-year-old Andrew Morton after he was hit on the head with an airgun pellet in the Easterhouse area of Glasgow.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “We recognise the seriousness with which councillors in Aberdeen view this issue and will continue to support efforts by local authorities and police. Air weapons account for half of all gun crime.
“Ministers believe they should be dealt with as most other firearms are, through a ban on their general sale, with licensed exemptions for legitimate uses such as pest control and in suitably controlled sporting environments.”