Scottish police concern over air gun laws

Plans to give Scotland new powers to regulate the country's 500,000 air guns could be difficult and costly, a senior police officer has said.

Fife Constabulary's assistant chief constable Tom Ewing said the move, under the Scotland Bill, external, could cause confusion with two sets of laws.

Firearms regulations are currently reserved to Westminster.

But there have been long-standing calls for a Scottish air gun licensing scheme to crack down on irresponsible use.

Mr Ewing told a special Holyrood committee set up to look at the Scotland Bill, external proposals: "The best estimates for air weapons are that there could be as many as half-a-million air weapons in Scotland, obviously unregulated at the moment, apart from the most dangerous, which then come under the Firearms Act."

The officer, who was representing the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (Acpos), said police would be happy to work with parliament, should it wish to bring in air weapon licensing.

But he warned: "The Acpos position would be in the ideal world, for the sake of lack of confusion, that one set of legislation would be the best option.

"It's a complex issue in regard to the licensing of air weapons. Ideally, we would prefer them to come under the Firearms Act, so we don't have two sets of rules.

"Given the numbers, then obviously, in relation to cost and resources from a policing perspective, there would be a definitive impact on that."

Mr Ewing went on to say it was likely officers would not support higher speed limits on Scotland's roads compared to the rest of the UK, under other justice powers which would be handed to Holyrood.

The Scotland Bill, currently going through Westminster, will also see increased tax as well as borrowing powers devolved to Scotland.