UK government accused of ‘sticking its head in the sand’ by disappointed scottish politicians
MSPs angry as control of air weapons to stay at Westminster
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The UK Government was last night accused of “sticking its head in the sand” after it announced responsibility for air weapon control will not be handed over to the Scottish Government.
MSPs are “bitterly disappointed” that the Home Office has rejected a call to allow SNP ministers to further restrict use and ownership of air weapons. The Westminster government argues that existing legislation is sufficient to control misuse issues throughout the UK.
MSPs say the problem is more prevalent in Scotland than in England and Wales. Figures show airguns acc-ount for five times the numb-er of offences as other forms of firearm in the country.
The Home Office said: “The present unified regime represents the best way of tackling problems which currently exist in relation to armed crime and the irresponsible misuse of firearms.”
Aberdeen North SNP MSP Brian Adam said residents in the city will be downhearted because airgun crime is not uncommon in the city. “This is another example of the UK Government sticking its head in the sand,” he said. “We are tackling crime on our streets but, without licensing powers for air weapons to restrict their use further, airguns will continue to pose a problem in our society.”
Police say firearms were all-egedly used in 1,125 Scots crimes in 2007-08. The number of air weapon offences in 2007-08 is 567, against 109 for imitation firearms and 41 for shotguns. Between 2003 and 2007, airgun crime had increased five-fold in the Grampian area and by 20% in Scotland.
Mr Adam said: “We do have more of an airgun problem in Scotland than they do in the rest of the UK. It is something that could be easily dealt with in Scotland. There is a political will to do so and I do not see it as something that should lead to cross-border problems.”
The Liberal Democrats say change is needed because there are 23 pieces of legislation that make up the rules governing firearms.
Justice spokesman Robert Brown said: “If the Westminster government is not prepared to devolve these powers to Scotland then it must reform the current law.”
Aberdeen Labour councillor Norman Collie , said: “Unfortunately, it looks like misuse of air weapons is going to continue and I just hope there will not be a fatality.”
