Air weapons scotland

[bogtrotter]

I might be in the minority but I don't have a problem with the licensing of air guns , in fact to me its logical that they should be , however
licensing is only part of the problem what is needed is education far to many people see air guns as toys and they are clearly not, a robust deterrent is also needed for those that would flaunt the law ,and a legal system that will prosecute offenders to the full extent of their power.

We really need to think of the victims one toddlers life is one to many, there are many incidents of people being injured that never make the
news a few years ago a near neighbour's fourteen year olds son was shot and very nearly lost his life, the pellet ending up resting against his heart resulting in a major operation to save his life, this was with a sub 12 ft lb gun , one which a previous poster regards as puny , but anything that can do that is not a toy.

Also look at how many pets are treated at vets almost daily for air gun wounds.

The real problem as I see the new legislation is how difficult it will be to po!ice, how many air guns are out there that won't be handed in regardless of how many amnesties there are,those that apply for licenses will in general be the law abiding citizen the criminal minded or those that just don't give a stuff won't ,but if nothing else the new legislation separate the sheep from the goats.

I have heard the argument many times from shooters that they learned to shoot as kids with an airgun and no one was ever injured, I agree
I was one of those kids, but the world is a very different place today.

Yes licensing will slightly inconvenience some, but most will still be able to get a license, not a huge inconvenience there will be a cost involved but no greater than any other form of gun licensing and considerably less if you are already a certificate holder.

As gun holders any illegal or dangerous act with any type of gun reflects badly on us and as such we need to be seen to embrace any sensible measure that may help make feel safer.

 

[Harry mac]

As gun holders any illegal or dangerous act with any type of gun reflects badly on us and as such we need to be seen to embrace any sensible measure that may help make feel safer.

Illegal or dangerous acts with a gun are already illegal, and prosecutable under existing legislation. As is so often the case when it comes to "gun laws", if existing laws were enforced, all the bases are already covered.
As for the world being a very different place, it really isn't. There have been calls to ban or licence airguns for as long as I can remember, realistically, that's since the mid 70's, when I first started to get interested in guns and shooting.
This legislation hasn't been born out of a concern for public safety (not entirely, anyway), but from a desire to just get rid of guns and shooting.

 

[Sellars]

Bogtrotter, I agree with what you say but I don't reach the same conclusion and I don't believe the answer is more legislation. I agree that education is the answer but not more legislation and the new laws will restrict the opportunity for young people to learn to shoot.

My dad taught me how to use an air pistol in our back garden shooting at cans and old 78 records. With hindsight we should have kept the 78's. From that I later became interested in shotguns then rifles. That education by plinking in a back garden will no longer be deemed good reason under the new legislation.

The world is not so different, we should try and to see it through younger eyes. Sorry son/daughter we can't safely plink in the back garden any more because some people shot at people and pets. The irresponsible people will continue as ever.

I agree the new legislation will be difficult to police. I'd say almost impossible and would require a totally disproportionate use of resources.

 

[geordieh]

At the end of the day it is all about the Scottish Numpty Party saying we are in charge and this will prove it

 

[Highlandsjohn]

Most of us know this legislation is no more than a political stunt aimed at the general public, most, who know sfa.
However there is just not enough of us, or the will and determination of our organisations to change it.

When I started shooting there was the ten bob license (7/6- for dugs') It was done away with when SGC came into being.

Every outrage that has happened has cost us legal gun owners our semi-auto and pumps (over three) (no big deal imo, you can still get them on FAC) our handguns et all.
The fact that they were allowed to was the travesty and not every wildfowler wants an FAC.

If the polis removed the bad eggs using existing laws, we would be in a different place, but they didn't, and they won't for the new legislation,because of shortage of 'manpower'.

Sometimes the best form of defence is attack, perhaps if WE took the initiative, on sensible ownership,condemn the bad practice, force the establishment to act on bad practice, instead of moaning about it, and allowing politicians to create a smoke screen to suit their own agenda. Our kids would be able to plink with safety, guided by interested parents and our gun clubs would flourish. john

 

[bogtrotter]

Illegal or dangerous acts with a gun are already illegal, and prosecutable under existing legislation. As is so often the case when it comes to "gun laws", if existing laws were enforced, all the bases are already covered.
As for the world being a very different place, it really isn't. There have been calls to ban or licence airguns for as long as I can remember, realistically, that's since the mid 70's, when I first started to get interested in guns and shooting.
This legislation hasn't been born out of a concern for public safety (not entirely, anyway), but from a desire to just get rid of guns and shooting.

I agree with quite a !of of that but there is a but, I began shooting in 1958 aged eight with an airgun, shotgun aged twelve,rifles .22and centre fire aged fourteen all under supervision I may add.


I was a country lad the son of a keeper and was well used to guns from an early age, my peers were obviously country lads and for most
guns and shooting were just part of everyday life that they entered into from a young age.

And the world was indeed a very different place you very seldom heard of gun crime if you did it was usually some criminal gang where a a firearm was used in a robbery or the very occasional suicide, remember once a murder where a firearm was used this was so unusual that it was the topic of conversation for months these days it would hardly get a mention.

In the 1950s nobody had gun cabinets at least not in the countryside theft of guns was practically unheard of, guns were seldom locked up
unless there were young children in the house, most farms would have a shotgun and ammunition left in an outbuilding where it could be
reached quickly if needed .

As I said earlier my father was a keeper strangely for a keepers wife my mother did not like guns in the house , she perhaps irrationally did not think guns had a place in the house, so all my fathers guns were kept In the shed, just try that now.
Yes the world is indeed a very different place

As for the comment if all the laws were enforced then all the bases would be covered, I agree other than the fact of having to apply for a license before they could acquire airgun might just prevent some undesirables getting his hands on one in the first place,prevention better than cure and all that.

Don't think its so much about getting rid of guns as trying to convince the general public that their government is making their lives
safer. there again perhaps I am just an old cynic.

 

[Lakey]

I might be in the minority but I don't have a problem with the licensing of air guns , in fact to me its logical that they should be , however
licensing is only part of the problem what is needed is education far to many people see air guns as toys and they are clearly not, a robust deterrent is also needed for those that would flaunt the law ,and a legal system that will prosecute offenders to the full extent of their power.

We really need to think of the victims one toddlers life is one to many, there are many incidents of people being injured that never make the
news a few years ago a near neighbour's fourteen year olds son was shot and very nearly lost his life, the pellet ending up resting against his heart resulting in a major operation to save his life, this was with a sub 12 ft lb gun , one which a previous poster regards as puny , but anything that can do that is not a toy.

Also look at how many pets are treated at vets almost daily for air gun wounds.

The real problem as I see the new legislation is how difficult it will be to po!ice, how many air guns are out there that won't be handed in regardless of how many amnesties there are,those that apply for licenses will in general be the law abiding citizen the criminal minded or those that just don't give a stuff won't ,but if nothing else the new legislation separate the sheep from the goats.

I have heard the argument many times from shooters that they learned to shoot as kids with an airgun and no one was ever injured, I agree
I was one of those kids, but the world is a very different place today.

Yes licensing will slightly inconvenience some, but most will still be able to get a license, not a huge inconvenience there will be a cost involved but no greater than any other form of gun licensing and considerably less if you are already a certificate holder.

As gun holders any illegal or dangerous act with any type of gun reflects badly on us and as such we need to be seen to embrace any sensible measure that may help make feel safer.

All that theory is all well and good, however the question you have to ask yourself is " Will this legisation stop the drunk, and drugged up neddies from shooting at Pets and Toddlers with airguns ( both totally illegal acts anyway ) and the answer is NO it wont. Those people are already breaking countless laws doing what they are doing so breaking a few more is no deterrent to them in any way. If you accept that, then you are left asking yourself this " If the law doesn't do what it set out to do (which is to make scottish society safer) what is the point of that law"
All that it has done if further penalize a largely law abiding airgun shooting society.It will be almost impossible to enforce, and impossibly stretch a gun licensing infrastructure in scotland, which is stretched to breaking point anyway.
On the face of it, it seems entirely reasonable to license airguns, but any new law that fails to do what it set out to do is wrong, and un-necessary and should be guarded against however reasonable. Everybody that voted for SNP has shared responsibility for this stupid legislation.

 

[Bandit Country]

as such we need to be seen to embrace any sensible measure that may help make feel safer.

"...feel safer..."? How about rigorously enforcing existing legislation and making society actually safer? Politicians aren't interested in whether we are safe or even feel safe, they're interested in garnering plaudits for being seen to 'do something'! It will be interesting to see what sort of BS cascade now kicks off after the murder of Jo Cox?

 

[sauer]

Problem is this

The folks who cause the problems with
"air weapons"
Will NOT pay any heed to new ( or existing ) laws & carry on regardless ....
The rest of us will but it's not us who are breaking these laws which are meaningless to minority individuals

 

[rodp]

Wouldn't mind betting there's more folk injured by cyclists than sub 12 air rifles, when they going to make licensing and id numbers compulsory for them?

 

[sauer]

Problem is this

The folks who cause the problems with
"air weapons"
Will NOT pay any heed to new ( or existing ) laws & carry on regardless ....
The rest of us will but it's not us who are breaking these laws which are meaningless to minority individuals

 

[scrumbag]

I wonder what they'd do if all UK stalkers applied, in case they wanted to bring an air rifle with them for rabbits on a stalking trip?

I wonder if we could bring the system to it's knees. Like a real world DDOS.

That would be my thought with continuous changes between .22 and .177.

It's a serious question though, as a firearms certificate holder, not living in Scotland, do I need to get a "Scottish FAC" for my air rifle and air pistol if I want to take them up there?

 

[LuckyEddie]

I wonder what they'd do if all UK stalkers applied, in case they wanted to bring an air rifle with them for rabbits on a stalking trip?

I wonder if we could bring the system to it's knees. Like a real world DDOS.

As I previously posted all that needs to happen is that everyone wanting to hold an air weapons certificate to submit on the 1st November (deadline is 30th) and then everyone in England and Wales to submit for a visitors permit at the sametime!
The chaos would be incredible.

How would they issue a Section 7 for weapons they haven't checked or people they haven't checked?

 

[countrryboy]

Sorry to reserect an old thread.

But has anyone got a good link to straight forward info and the application form for an Airgun Licence? Or is it same form as for shotgun/FAC and just tick different boxes

I have looked throu the links given here, Basc and on police website themselves but most just highlight the charges (i see there is fee's for varitions, how are they going to work that when got no serial numbers ??)
The basc website has it similar to FAC strictness but the FEO/polis man who checked my cabinets reckoned it was just a paper chasing excercise, so which is nearer the mark?

I'm trying to get some straight forward basic info (for non shooters) for the commitee meeting of local Red squirrel group, a few non shooters are on about buying air pistols for dispatching greys in traps so just trying to get a real basic straight talking thing i can forward to them so they know the score.
Sometimes even when ur used to firearms law u can get confused by it all

Cheers

 

[Barkingsnake]

Here

Air Weapon Application Forms - Police Scotland

 

[countrryboy]

Cheers Barkingsnake.

I must only have been a click or 2 away from that on police site but just couldnae find it.

It doesnae seem to bad at all (apart from the price) seems the plis boy was abit nearer the mark

 

[bogtrotter]

That would be my thought with continuous changes between .22 and .177.

It's a serious question though, as a firearms certificate holder, not living in Scotland, do I need to get a "Scottish FAC" for my air rifle and air pistol if I want to take them up there?

No you will need a Visitor Permit I think certainly airgun holders will, as you already hold a FAC I'm not sure , don't know if a non. resident in Scotland will be able to apply for a certificate or will be restricted to Visitors Permit.

 

[badbob]

Well.......I think Ill leave my air rifle at home.... its all getting too complicated.
I guess this is the thin edge of the wedge

 

[Pedro]

Was in a gun shop not far from the Scottish border yesterday. Main order of business it seemed was fielding calls from people over the border enquiring about selling their air rifles.