APPENDIX 33
Memorandum by the Scottish Countryside
Alliance
FIREARMS
HISTORY
The Scottish Countryside Alliance, is a semi-autonomous
part of the Countryside Alliance, representing a membership in
excess of 10,000 and rising rapidly under the threat perceived
by people living in the countryside to their traditional ways
of life. The headquarters are at Redden, Kelso, Roxburghshire
TD5 8HS.
RECOMMENDATIONS
The Board and staff of the Scottish Countryside
Alliance recommend that the following be brought to the attention
of the Select Committee.
1. A. It is essential that existing
firearms legislation be consolidated before further acts or amendments
are considered. The existing Firearms Acts and amendments go back
to the Firearms Act 1937 which introduced modern firearms controls.
However, the Firearms Act 1968 (which is still in force) re-enacted
and absorbed all the earlier legislation, we then have the Firearms
(Amendment) Act 1988 to introduce tighter controls in the aftermath
of Hungerford.
In 1992 the Firearms (Amendment) Regulations
which came into effect on 1 January 1993 had the effect of modifying
the earlier Acts to bring them in line with the European Community
Weapons Directive.
The two Firearms (Amendment) Acts of 1997 banned
most pistols.
With the above in mind, we recommend that a
Consolidation Bill would make the law easier for both the Police
and Sportsmen to understand and implement.
B. Following a consolidation bill a full
and comprehensive review of firearms law and administration be
undertaken, with full involvement of members of the shooting community.
C. In view of the difficulties some of our
members are reporting, concerning the interpretation of the law
by various Chief Constables, we would recommend that an independent,
centralised, licensing appeal procedure administered by civilian
staff should be adopted.
2. A. Air Weapons: Within
your remit, the use and purchase of air weapons has to be considered,
it is our belief that certification of air weapons is both unnecessary
and costly. However, we would like to suggest that a simple booklet
aimed at parents and outlining the points of law in relation to
such weapons could be attached at point of sale. It would seem
that not only have the public inadequate knowledge on air weapons,
but the police seem to have a problem with this as well.
B. Shotguns: Some politicians
have been reported as saying that they would like to see an "upgrading"
of Shotguns from Section 2 to Section 1 status, and that a ban
be imposed on Shotgun ownership for anyone living in an urban
area, both of the above you must robustly resist. The implications
of this would be horrendous for our members, and add considerable
costs to the police.
We would also suggest that a person holding
a shotgun certificate be allowed to lend a shotgun to a person
known to him who does not hold a certificate, for the purpose
of sport on private land.
C. Other firearms: emphasis should
be placed on illegal firearms and armed crime as this should always
be central to any debate on firearms and the public. Under existing
law, there have been two cases of murder with Kalashnikovs this
year, although they have been illegal since 1988, and the number
of shootings with pistols has increased way above the levels prior
to the 1997 Firearms (Amendment) Act, which proves the bans have
only affected the law abiding.
The following are for your consideration:
(a). Raising the age limit. This
would have the detrimental effect of banning by the back door
young peoples entry into Country Sports as by the time they had
reached 18 or 21, they would have interests outside shooting,
and be lost for ever;
(b) Some police forces have implemented their
own laws in as much as, it is perfectly legal to hold five guns
without a burglar alarm, but a condition of ones certificate to
hold six guns. This is surely a nonsense and an abuse of power
which should not be allowed under legislation.
We would recommend that the number of firearms
listed on a single certificate should not be restricted, as if
a person is deemed to be a responsible member of society, then
numbers do not matter;
(c) We understand the difficulty that the
law enforcement agencies have in dealing with armed crime, but
if legislation only affects the law abiding, more of the same
legislation will not improve the situation;
(d) The select committee should, we feel
call upon the media and entertainment industries to avoid promotion
of gratuitous violence, particularly where guns are shown;
(e) It is felt by our board that in the short
term, all shooting organisations should be encouraged to promote
and expand their existing voluntary education and training schemes
while further avenues are explored, with the possibility of public
financial support for this educational project;
(f) Sections 9 and 10 of the Firearms (Amendment)
Act 1997 should be removed. This law was included in the Act for
handguns and was never intended for the sporting rifle. The use
of solid point ammunition in the sporting and pest control field
is very dangerous and should be rescinded as soon as possible;
(g) As the law stands, it is not possible
for war trophies to be inherited by a relative of the original
owner, we feel this is unjust as many if not all are deactivated.
(h) At present, the law states that barrel
length must be no shorter than 61cm (24"). This should be
amended to 60cm to bring it inline with the European Firearms
Directive;
(i) Following the recommendations laid down
in the Inquiry Report of Lord Cullen, consideration by the Government
should be given to the annulment of the law relating to target
pistol shooting, given the evidence of late from official figures,
this ban has had no effect other than to deprive people of their
legal pastime.
SUMMARY
The above suggestions and recommendations, we
feel will enable a very bitter shooting public to come to terms
with changes, which can be shown to be for the right reasons and
not just a knee-jerk reaction to satisfy a popular press or give
a political party some perceived advantage in the polls, as was
evident at the time of Dunblane.
As we stated earlier, when legislation has shown
that only the law abiding conform and obey, then more legislation
to further prohibit the legitimate is a waste of the select committee's
time.
The answer to the gun problems in Britain today,
lies with the illegal guns in circulation and with the lenient
interpretation of existing legislation by the law. It has been
proved over and over again, that people participating in shooting
sports are among the most law abiding citizens in the country
today and also the children of these adults are statistically
much ore balanced members of society, as they have been taught
from a very early age that one must respect ones quarry and treat
firearms with utmost respect.
October 1999
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