Illegal weapons fear as number of lawfully held guns hits 10-year high

THE number of firearms held legally in Scotland has reached a ten-year high, fuelling fears of a similar rise in the number of illegal weapons.

Opposition politicians have called for greater efforts to find out how many firearms are held illegally on Scotland's streets.

The move came as Scottish Government figures revealed a rise of 4 per cent last year in the number of firearms owned under certificate, to 69,481.

There was also a 2.7 per cent increase in handguns and pistols, the type of gun Thomas Hamilton used one to shoot dead 16 schoolchildren and their teacher in Dunblane in 1996.

The total number of handguns increased from 1,481 in 2007 to 1,522 in 2008.

In addition, the number of shotguns held on certificate was 137,881 in 2008, which was 3 per cent higher than in 2007.

Both were the highest figures in ten years.

There were also 327 registered firearms dealers in Scotland at the end of 2008, an increase of 9 per cent from the 301 registered at the end of 2007.

The number of firearms authorised to be purchased or acquired on certificate was 8,254, making the total of firearms certificates in Scotland 77,735.

Labour's justice spokesman Richard Baker said legal weapons were not the problem.

"To most people, what is of greater concern is the number of illegally held weapons in Scotland," he said. "(Justice secretary] Kenny MacAskill should get on with the job of tackling those outside the system rather than continuing his endless demands for more powers."

The Liberal Democrat justice spokesman Robert Brown said the statistics gave an incomplete picture of weapons in Scotland and insisted that more needed to be done to track down illegal weapons.

He also called on the Scottish Government to take up the cudgels again with Westminster to get measures on licensing air weapons in Scotland.

Currently, all firearms legislation is reserved and only powerful airguns have to be licensed.

"As long as the rising number of legally-held firearms are stored and used responsibly for sport or pest control, these figures should not be cause for alarm," said Mr Brown.

"But these statistics don't give us the complete picture of gun ownership in Scotland. They exclude the number of illegal firearms that end up in the hands of criminals.

"They also don't tell us anything about airguns, which are not subject to registration schemes. An airgun in the wrong hands is a lethal weapon in exactly the same way that a firearm or shotgun can be, both of which are already subject to registration processes."

The Scottish Government said it still hoped to have an overhaul of firearms legislation.

Mr MacAskill promised to take up the issue again with Home Secretary Jacqui Smith.

"We know that some people have a legitimate reason for owning a firearm, for example those who belong to shooting clubs or farmers who need them for pest control," he said. "But we also know that, in the wrong hands, these weapons can injure or kill."

He said that at a recent firearms summit at Bute House there had been widespread agreement that the current law on firearms was not fit for purpose because it was too complicated. That makes it hard for legitimate owners to understand what the law requires of them and makes it easier for others to slip through the net.

"That's why I'll keep pushing the Home Office to review and update the law," Mr MacAskill said. "Meanwhile, our public information campaign will educate and raise awareness of the dangers of airguns, and the campaign website has information on the different strands of the campaign, including advice on safe shooting."

Schoolteacher fined £1,000 for firing airgun into the ground after being attacked

A SCHOOL teacher who brought out an air pistol to scare a gang who assaulted him has been fined £1,000.

Allan Dickson, 32, repeatedly fired the weapon into the ground outside his home in Edinburgh last July.

He had returned home around midnight from a night out with colleagues and found eight men standing nearby.

They shouted comments at Dickson before one of the men attacked him, prompting Dickson to run into his house and return with the weapon. He fired three or four shots into the ground and at a fence before handing the pistol to a friend.

Dickson, of Granton Mill Drive, Edinburgh, pled guilty to breach of the peace and possessing a firearm at Edinburgh Sheriff Court last month.

He has been suspended from his secondary teaching post and faces a disciplinary hearing.

Yesterday, Sheriff Derrick McIntyre told the first offender he had reduced the fine from £1,500. "The gun wasn't fired at these youths and there was a lead up to this, you had been assaulted," said the sheriff.

Dickson admitted to police he had gone home to retrieve an air pistol "for protection" and fired it, but said he only wanted to frighten the men.

His defence lawyer, Fiona Macdonald, said Dickson had felt "humiliation" at being assaulted but was now "extremely remorseful".

"There was a group of youths there and there were words exchanged and it is accepted that he was assaulted by these youths," said Ms Macdonald.

"Mr Dickson took the extremely foolish decision to go into his house and retrieve this air pistol. He was clearly in a state of extreme agitation.

"He accepts that he shouldn't have done this regardless of what provocation there was."