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Call for 'clarity' on airgun ban Ministers to monitor airgun laws
(about 23 hours later)
The SNP are calling for the first minister to "clarify" whether he will seek a Scottish ban on airguns. Scottish ministers have set out a two-year time frame to test the effectiveness of laws to curb the irresponsible use of airguns.
Gun law across the UK is reserved to Westminster and Jack McConnell has rejected calls for him to seek the powers to allow a Scottish airgun ban. The move came after senior police officers told the Scottish Executive that a total ban on use of the weapons would be a disproportionate response.
The first minister is to meet senior police officers later to discuss what more can be done to tackle the irresponsible use of airguns. Mr McConnell has previously said it would be wrong to rule out such a move.
SNP justice spokesman Kenny MacAskill said he must make his position clear. However, ministers are to review the new UK airgun legislation in a year's time and again in spring 2009.
Firearms act The laws, due to come into force this year, will bring in a range of measures to tackle airgun-related problems - an issue reserved to Westminster.
Mr MacAskill said: "He must tell us where he stands on this issue, which is important to communities across Scotland. These include curbing their sale, lifting the age limit for owning airguns from 17 to 18 and tightening the law on firing them from private property.
"The SNP's position is clear. In government, we are pledged to tackle air weapons and lay a framework for a firearms act designed for Scottish needs and Scottish circumstances. The Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (Acpos) said the new legislation was "tough" and was the correct approach, according to a Scottish Executive spokesman.
"The time for talking is past. Action needs to be taken now." The idea of a review of the law in 2009 is way short of what is now required Tommy Sheridan MSPSolidarity
Solidarity MSP Tommy Sheridan has introduced a bill at Holyrood calling for a ban on airguns. Senior officers said the laws would also help provide clearer evidence on the scale of the problem.
He called on the executive to introduce Andrew's law. The remarks came following a meeting between Acpos, Mr McConnell and Justice Minister Cathy Jamieson.
Mr Sheridan wants the legislation named after two-year-old Andrew Morton, who died after he was shot in the Easterhouse area of Glasgow in March 2005. The executive spokesman said ministers would "review the position in spring 2009, as to whether the legislation is having the desired effect" and focus on enforcing the new measures in the meantime.
Andrew's mother, Sharon McMillan, 36, has been campaigning for a change in the law. Solidarity MSP Tommy Sheridan, who has introduced a bill at Holyrood calling for a ban on airguns, said the curbs brought in by the new legislation would be "mocked on the streets of Scotland".
She was joined at Holyrood last month by Jacqueline Jack, whose brother Graeme was killed in an airgun incident in East Calder last April. He added: "The idea of a review of the law in 2009 is way short of what is now required."
Mr Sheridan has called on the executive to introduce Andrew's law - named after two-year-old Andrew Morton, who died after he was shot in the Easterhouse area of Glasgow in March 2005.
Sharon McMillan said more immediate action was needed
Andrew's mother, Sharon McMillan, 36, who has been campaigning for a change in the law, said she was angry with the executive's strategy.
She said: "By the time 2009 comes, there may be more deaths. We need action to take airguns off the streets now."
James Scott, who speaks on Scottish issues for the British Association for Shooting and Conservation, welcomed the executive decision.
"This is exactly what we had hoped for," he said.
SNP justice spokesman Kenny MacAskill said his party would, in government, lay a framework for a firearms act designed for Scottish circumstances.