Posted on 07/06/2009 12:26:53 PM PDT by neverdem
SCOTLAND'S justice secretary has upped the pressure on Westminster to devolve control over firearms in a letter to new Home Secretary Alan Johnson.
Kenny MacAskill has urged Mr Johnson to grant Scotland complete control over firearms legislation, after a top-level commission advised the rules surrounding airguns only should be passed to Holyrood.
The move emerged as the Scottish Government launched a fresh campaign to highlight the dangers of airguns.
The campaign will include website adverts, posters and leaflets, and comes at the height of summer when use of firearms traditionally is at its highest.
A similar campaign earlier in the year saw more than 130,000 plays of the internet "viral" advert and almost 15,000 visits to the campaign website.
Mr MacAskill said: "Airguns are not toys, but weapons that can kill and maim. There have been tragedies that have caused pain and injury to children and animals. That's why we believe that action must be taken.
"We have been working closely with our police forces – and they've told us that long summer days, light evenings and school holidays mean that incidents peak in the summer months.
"That's why we've decided to run another burst of our successful campaign to highlight the dangers of airgun misuse."
Mr MacAskill said that there would be "no let-up" on the SNP's campaign to reform gun laws.
Last month, Sir Kenneth Calman, chairman of a commission set up to examine devolution, advised Scotland should get powers to regulate airguns. But Mr MacAskill insists the move would not go far enough.
"While I do welcome the recommendations from the Calman Commission that the law on airguns should be devolved, I believe all firearms legislation should be included.
"We need a firearms system that is consistent, easier to understand and enforce: not the current muddled legislation.
"I've written to the new Home Secretary, Alan Johnson, urging him to devolve firearms law in its entirety. This will enable us to put a system in place that meets Scotland's needs.
"That can help us protect Scottish communities. Until it happens, we'll continue to do what we can to educate Scots about the dangers of these weapons."
Calls for a ban on airguns have grown since the death of two-year-old Andrew Morton, who was shot with a pellet near his home in Glasgow in 2005.
Another clear example of the difference between subjects, and citizens.
My grandfather always said that if he loved Scotland so much, he would have stayed there. I sometimes wonder if all the smart and/or entrepreneurial Scots left.
Is there an ounce of testosterone left in the Highlands?
Any airgun with a muzzle energy of over 12 ft-lbs is licensed in the UK. For comparison, a .22 LR will run a bit over 100 ft-lbs. A .45 ACP is around 500 a .44 magnum runs about 1000. My pneumatic airguns are in the 20 to 90 range.
I got a Webley Tempest air-pistol many years ago. One of the papers in the box warned that if the spring was replaced with a heavier one, the gun would become illegal, with all kinds of dire consequences. From memory, it had the 12ft-lbs you mentioned listed on the paper.
Fear the government that fears guns!!!
There goes my blow gun!! Too high power.
“...with a muzzle energy of over 12 ft-lbs is licensed in the UK.”
Do you think the muzzle energy of my new Saiga 12 would require licensing in the U.K.?
It is sort of an air gun, as in “fill the air with lead” /s
http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/1st-amendment-petition.html
Bonnie lasses!
Is there no place left in the world safe from idiot activist and nanny staters?
It looks like Americanized Scot estrogen his stronger than the native testosterone.
Is that a Springfield M1A?
That ole M-1 was gained through the Civilian Marksmanship Program. Another org that libs hate. Imagine the Govt. providing weapons to common citizens!
Thanks! You are very kind. I’ll pass on your compliment.
You would be a very very bad person, er subject, over there.
What’s the story behind that picture?
It was supposed to be a better semi-artistic shot or even the photographic equivalent of Liberty Leading the People (the famous French Revolution painting). But I failed miserably! I've lost it as a photographer.
Other shots had fire, smoke, drama, but the photographer stunk up the place. Now I'm punishing all Freepers and wasting bandwidth by posting it anyway.
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