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Summit plans to reform gun laws Air weapon ban proposals rejected
(about 22 hours later)
A firearms summit to identify how gun laws can be reformed is being planned by ministers in Scotland. A Scottish Government call to extend the ban on guns to include air weapons has been rejected by parliament.
Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill will invite police, farmers, shooting clubs and Home Secretary Jacqui Smith, as well as gun control campaigners. The move came as campaigners welcomed ministers' plans for a summit on firearms laws, reserved to Westminster.
He said that with gun crime increasing, the law needed to be tougher and simpler to understand and enforce. Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill said he was concerned at a recent rise in gun crime.
Last year saw 247 firearms incidents in Scotland resulting in death or injury, up 25% on the year before. There were 247 firearms incidents resulting in death or injury in Scotland last year, a rise of 25% on the year before.
The Scottish Government said it wanted the event to be held at the earliest practical date. It is hoped Home Secretary Jacqui Smith, as well as police, farmers and shooting clubs will attend the summit, to be held as soon as possible.
Despite welcome past reforms, no responsible government can say the job is done Kenny MacAskillJustice Secretary It's very difficult for anybody to understand and get a complete picture of how we control firearms in this country Dr Mick NorthFirearms campaigner
Mr MacAskill said: "We have a shared interest in bringing together all of the interests, to ensure the summit acts as a springboard for practical action to tackle the insidious weapons culture that we must not allow to get a grip on our communities." The move was also welcomed by Dr Mick North, whose daughter Sophie, five, was killed in the Dunblane massacre, as well as Andy Morton and Sharon McMillan, who have campaigned for a ban on airguns since the death of their two-year-old son Andrew.
The announcement of the summit comes on the day Mr MacAskill is to raise the issue of firearms control during a debate in Holyrood. Meanwhile, MSPs voted down a government motion calling for action to ban the ownership and use of all firearms and air weapons, other than for recognised and legitimate occupational and sporting interests.
And ahead of that he will meet Dr Mick North, whose five-year-old daughter Sophie was killed in the Dunblane shooting, and Andrew Morton and Sharon McMillan, who have been campaigning for a ban on the sale of airguns following the death of their two-year-old son Andrew, who was struck in the head by an air pellet. In parliament, Mr MacAskill accused the UK Government of failing to tackle the misuse of firearms and air weapons, saying that Scotland wanted tougher action which would see them licensed in the same way as all firearms.
Mr MacAskill said communities across Scotland were "crying out" for tougher action to tackle the spread and misuse of firearms, in particular air weapons. "If London wants to take action, that is fine. But do it they must. If not, they must give the powers to us to do so," he said.
He said: "Despite welcome past reforms, no responsible government can say the job is done. Two-year-old Andrew Morton was killed by an airgun
"Not when firearms casualties in Scotland rose by a quarter last year - one in three of them children - and when cases of attempted murder involving firearms are almost three times that of a decade ago." Labour justice spokeswoman Pauline McNeill described the airgun issue as a "UK problem with a distinctly Scottish trend", but insisted a review of restrictions should be UK-wide.
He added: "We need a robust regime - more straightforward for legitimate users to comply with and more efficient for our police to administer and enforce." Tory justice spokesman Bill Aitken said Mr MacAskill had put up a good argument, but argued that the issue ultimately came down to policing.
For the Liberal Democrats, Mike Pringle said a gun "used in a crime in Edinburgh might next be used in Manchester", adding that the Westminster Government was best placed to tackle the issue of real concern - controlling illegal guns getting into the UK in the first place.
Dr North said it was important to get all sides of the debate round the table to discuss firearms legislation.
Backing the summit, Ms McMillan said: "We really need to go forward with this, it's been left for too long and the longer we leave these things the more incidents happen and it won't be long before another death occurs."