Air Weapons and Licensing Bill backed at stage 1

The Scottish Governemnt's Air Weapons and Licensing Bill passed its stage 1 vote in the Scottish Parliament yesterday.

MSPs voted by 60 to nil, with 12 Conservative and Liberal Democrat members abstaining, to allow the bill to proceed to detailed consideration by the Local Government & Regeneration Committee. The abstainers questioned whether it was necessary, and workable, to enact a regime to control the estimated 500,000 airguns in Scotland given the relatively low level of airgun crime.

Justice Secretary Michael Matheson claimed the regime was "relatively light touch in its practical application", and his officials were discussing with the police how to ensure that its impact was minimised. He argued that it would be unduly burdensome to require identifying marks on each individual air weapon.

On other licensing issues, the bill has been criticised as a patchwork measure that fails to address some significant issues. In relation to the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982, the Cabinet Secretary said that MSPs should not underestimate the scale of a full review and the work that could be involved in it. He estimated that it would take several years for that work to be undertaken.