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Mr. Clapham: My hon. Friend will be aware that air guns are used to kill wild birds. Does he believe that
increasing the fine for anyone caught killing wild birds would be a deterrent? Has he considered introducing such an increase?
Mr. Boateng: The use of air guns against wild birds, particularly protected species, is a serious act. It may also be an offence. It is to be hoped that those in the courts who are responsible for sentencing are aware of the gravity of such environmental offences, in respect of both the use of the air gun and the protection of the environment, which protected status is designed to ensure. We must keep the issue of sentencing and the environment under close review.
Mr. Bill O'Brien (Normanton): Can my hon. Friend say when the weapons used in the offences referred to by my hon. Friend the Member for Barnsley, East and Mexborough (Mr. Ennis) will be confiscated? There must be some mechanism for confiscating them from those individuals? Does anything in the law say that that can happen?
While I am on my feet, may I say that we appreciate the fact that my hon. Friend has had to leave his constituency, where many people want his presence, to respond to this debate?
Mr. Boateng:
I thank my hon. Friend and other colleagues for the expression of that sentiment. It is much appreciated.
Yes, the courts have general powers of forfeiture in relation to the commissioning of firearms offences. It is important that forfeiture, or more accurately, confiscation, is available to the courts. That power is often used on the recommendation of the police, which is the most usual way of bringing about confiscation, but the courts will want to consider what, if any, powers they have to act on their own volition. It is a deterrent and a form of protection that has much to commend it.
May I say a few words--my hon. Friend the Member for Barnsley, East and Mexborough was good enough in his speech to refer to it--about the statistical trends that are revealed in relation to air guns and their misuse? It must be made clear from the outset that every incident involving air gun misuse is unacceptable, particularly those that cause injury to children. Obviously, it is important to see the issue in perspective, and my hon. Friend has done that in the fair way in which he presented his arguments.
Over the years, there has been a slight increase in the overall number of air gun-related incidents. Nevertheless, as my hon. Friend said, the figures show that control is having an effect on the number of incidents in which people are injured. From 1987 to 1997, the most recent period for which figures are available, the incidence of injury caused by air gun misuse has shown a steady year-on-year decline. In 1997, there was a significant reduction in the number of injuries from air gun misuse in comparison with those recorded in 1987--from 1,782 to 1,194. In addition, only 125 of the incidents in 1997--less than 11 per cent. in total--consisted of an injury more serious than superficial bruising. It must be said, however, that that is more by chance than by design, because how does one know when one has discharged an air gun? The consequences may be much more serious. Nevertheless, that is what the statistics reveal.
As for fatalities, mercifully there was only one between 1993 and 1997. Prior to that, there was an average of one fatality a year, with a maximum of three in any one year. However, even one a year is too many. That represents one family without a loved one, and the idea that there should be three in a single year is absolutely horrific.
There is no room for complacency. Our aim must always be to reduce the number of injuries by air guns to none. The figures are encouraging in so far as they go, compared with the dreadful toll taken on our roads every year by the irresponsible misuse of that most widely owned possession, the motor car.
As for the legitimate use of air guns, the vast majority of air gun users are simply target shooters who pursue their chosen sport in a thoroughly responsible and disciplined manner. They would be horrified at the thought of doing anything with an air gun that might put themselves or their fellow citizens at risk. The sport of target shooting is a recognised Olympic event. Indeed, traditionally our British competitors excelled at it and achieved great success for this country. Many shooting clubs have air gun ranges at which young people, as well as more mature and novice shooters, are taught to use air guns safely and responsibly under proper tuition and supervision.
Air guns are also frequently used by clubs to introduce new members to firearms and to demonstrate their safe handling before such probationers are allowed to handle the more powerful conventional firearms in a club's main range. That means that new shooters have experience of handling safer weapons before being allowed to come into contact with much more powerful cartridge-firing guns.
Despite that responsible use of air guns, however, and despite the requirements of the law, a minority of young people still have or gain access to air guns, and choose to use them irresponsibly and sometimes dangerously. The Government view the misuse of air guns and the flouting of the law by youngsters as a cause for serious concern. That is why--this is entirely separate from the firearms legislation--we have introduced measures to deal more effectively with young people who break the law in any way.
My hon. Friend the Member for Barnsley, East and Mexborough, and other hon. Friends who are present, have expressed their strong support for the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, which introduced a range of measures to reform the youth justice system. There is the final warning triggering intervention by local agencies to nip offending in the bud, the halving of the time currently taken to process young offenders from arrest to sentence, and the child protection order, which can be used when it proves necessary to ensure that young children are kept of the streets and out of trouble late at night. Much of the trouble that can be caused by the misuse of air guns occurs when children are out and about unsupervised, sometimes late at night.
One of the most important aspects of the Crime and Disorder Act is the ability that it gives to courts to refer first-time offenders elsewhere. We are taking that further in the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Bill, which is currently in Committee. First-time offenders who own up
to their offences will be given the opportunity to be dealt with outside the criminal justice system, and to face up to their responsibilities and their offending through the good offices of a youth offender panel.
That is an important move. It brings together social services departments, health departments, education departments, the police and probation services, which will examine the nature of the offence involved and consider how education and instruction might help to prevent reoffending. My hon. Friend the Member for Barnsley, East and Mexborough put his finger on it when he referred to that. Under the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Bill, a person who had misused an air gun in the way described by my hon. Friend, and had caused injuries such as those described by him, could be required to engage in a series of activities--for between three and 12 months--designed to demonstrate the consequences of such action in a local accident and emergency department. Such a person could be required to take lessons from an appropriately authorised person in order to learn how air guns should be handled, and to be made aware of the consequences of the mishandling of air guns.
The Crime and Disorder Act already gives courts the power to make a reparation order requiring such young people to make specific reparation, either to the victim of the crime or to the community that has been harmed. Indeed, the Youth Justice Board for England and Wales--which was established to develop work programmes and conduct research into how best to prevent offending by young people--is considering ways of ensuring, through the £85 million development fund, that services are stimulated locally to make proposals aimed at preventing offending by young people. I shall draw this debate to the attention of the board, so that it might consider its implications for its work on offending involving air guns and firearms generally.
My hon. Friend the Member for Barnsley, East and Mexborough made a good point on the use of videos. We have to be innovative and prepared to use newer technologies in ways that attract and retain young people's interest and involvement, and video is just such a medium.
Mr. Ennis:
I thank the Minister for his reply so far--he has said many encouraging things. However, I asked specifically about the question asked in another place by the Earl of Mar and Kellie, and answered by Lord Williams of Mostyn, about whether the Firearms
Mr. Boateng:
Call me old-fashioned, but, in debates, it is always my practice--as the silent one, the Government Whip, my hon. Friend the Member for Streatham (Mr. Hill) will testify--to leave the best for last. That is what I have done today.
The measures that I have outlined today, with current firearms legislation, will be aimed at reducing still further the incidence of injury caused by misuse of air guns. However, as I said, there is no room for complacency. It is important that the firearms legislation that I have mentioned should be kept under close scrutiny, to determine whether anything further must be done to protect public safety.
I have therefore determined to ask the Firearms Consultative Committee, the independent statutory body which advises the Government on firearms matters, to consider again controls on air guns in its programme of work for this year. I look forward to receiving the committee's report later in the year, and to consider any recommendations that it may make to improve air gun safety. I shall be particularly interested in any recommendations that it makes on education and enforcement, which, as my hon. Friend the Member for Barnsley, East and Mexborough said, are key elements.
I am particularly grateful to my hon. Friend for initiating this debate, and to my other hon. Friends who have taken the trouble to attend it. I should very much welcome an opportunity to meet them when I have the Firearms Consultative Committee's report in order that we can discuss the recommendations and findings that it makes.
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