Gun crime: 'There is a greater threat from knives'

THE shooting of an Edinburgh plumber in the early hours of Wednesday morning shook up more people than just the family and friends of Douglas Downing.

As the News revealed later that same day, Douglas had been out walking his dog when he was blasted by a shotgun fired by a masked attacker.

There was no obvious motive for the incident. Dad-of-two Douglas was described by neighbours as a "lovely, quiet man".

Police quickly ruled out any sort of gang or other criminal motivation, and it seemed that it was either an entirely random shooting, or that Douglas had been confused for someone else by his attacker.

The incident understandably sent a shudder through normally staid Duddingston – and beyond. "How could it happen here?" was the general reaction. One local even noted that he expected such things in "the West", but not in Edinburgh.

Gun crime is in fact rare across Scotland, and in the Capital it is falling. While there were 226 firearms-related offences here in 2007, last year that number fell to 196. Still 196 too many, of course, but even that number contained a large proportion of relatively minor airgun-related offences.

And even when gun crime is more serious, it tends not to involve bystanders, even as innocent victims. Five shootings last summer were linked to a feud between rival drug gangs – and police have a decent record at catching those involved in such high-profile crimes.

The message is clear. Of course, every gun on the streets is one too many – and this includes airguns. They can kill, after all, as the parents of Glasgow toddler Andrew Morton can tragically testify. And as the Scottish Government has demanded, they should be banned other than when their use can be justified by the likes of farmers, and they should be licensed accordingly.

But the risk to ordinary law-abiding citizens is low, and certainly should not be unduly worrisome. There is a greater threat from knives, broken bottles and other everyday items that can be easily turned into weapons.

Yet even then it remains a fact that the threat from such blades and cudgels is greatest among those who move in the "wrong" circles or who don't take care to avoid people likely to lose control as a result of drink or drugs.

At almost every level, and for all but the most unlucky of people, the fear of crime is much greater than the risk from crime itself. As such, it has much greater potential to debilitate lives.