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Stage 1 - Scottish AirWEAPONS Bill - 23/04/15


saddler
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Stage 1 Debate on the Air Weapons and Licensing (Scotland) Bill

 

I am writing to remind you that the Stage 1 debate on the Air Weapons and Licensing (Scotland) Bill will take place tomorrow Thursday 23 April 2015, starting at 2.30pm in the Debating Chamber of the Scottish Parliament.

 

The purpose of the Stage 1 debate is to allow the full Parliament to debate the general principles (policy and purpose) of the Bill, as well as the findings and recommendations of the Local Government and Regeneration Committee’s Stage 1 report on the Bill. Immediately following the debate, the Parliament will vote on whether to approve the Bill at Stage 1 (at Decision Time at 5pm).

 

If you wish to attend the session you can book tickets online, free of charge, for the public gallery of the Debating Chamber, or you can ring the Parliament’s Visitor Services Department on 0131 348 5200. You can also watch the debate live online on the Parliament’s broadcast website from 2.30pm. The debate may also be available to watch on the Scotland section of the BBC Democracy Live website.

 

Further information on the Bill process will be provided after the Stage 1 process is completed.

 

More than likely a foregone conclusion...by the time this is passed I will have no airguns in Scotland

 

When the Bill is passed it will be cheaper & easier to obtain an SGC (for now - as MacArseKill promised that the above Bill was "the start" of their plans, IF Mary-Doll manages to arrange some deal in Westminster, you can bet the shirt on your back that one of the carrots she INSISTS on will be devolved Firearms Powers for Hollyrood)

 

We live in interesting times.....

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NEVER said they'd be illegal....but it WILL be illegal to shoot a tin can/paper target in my back garden (or even IN my own house) - "designated approved ranges only" - of which there are currently, er, NONE in Scotland

Edited by saddler
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Sorry ! but by your wording "by the time this is passed I will have no airguns in Scotland" I am guessing that the "I" is we

 

Any way lets not split hairs,

 

If they license them i personally don't see that as a problem, I would assume that the "Bill" is being raised regarding some history regarding the miss use of air weapons. (as per normal) I see a licensing better than a total ban, If that is what the Bill is promoting

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Glad you don't see it as a problem...I live here & DO see it as a massive problem...as so Police Scotland, as they want nothing to do with administering it, but have no choice (see other posts on here about FEO numbers being cut from 34 to 14....)

The other aspect of this is, what grass roots new blood witll there be to the sport once the Bill is passed? Very little

 

The public consultation here, saw 90% of respondents vote against any new laws on airguns....there is little history behind this apart from the SNP stance - BUT lots of evidence of the SNP whitewash of one drug addict family (who were illegally in possession of an airgun, which was subsequently used by their drug dealer/mate to kill one of their children) to make them "the victims" for a media frenzy.

Gun crime in Scotland is at one of the lowest levels for years...and of course ALL such bans work; otherwise I'd still have my pistols/ semi-auto rifles - neither guns of that type having been seen on the streets since they were made illegal

 

I also stated that this Bill is THE START of the SNP crack down...the VERY thin end of the wedge that will see guns all but banned under "technicalities" or even outright.

 

The "I" referred to MY OWN airguns.

 

Maybe you could take some time to read the wording of the proposed Bill rather than make assumptions on the what/when/why behind it? (NOT meant as a personal dig, just that MOST people outside of Scotland are not familiar with what is going to happen....and it MAY affect YOU if you want to visit Scotland to shoot in a comp./go rabbiting - as non-Scots will require a limited duration visitor permit: yet we can ALL get a European Firearm Passport FREE..!!)


I thought the bill was to bring in licencing for them , why do you think you will not be able to use one in your garden ?

 

I've read the proposals

NO private use allowed...designated approved ranges only, or farmland (& similar) for vermin control

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Looks like going back to 1603 has not done you any favors then. ;)

 

I would think its doubtful they would ban the use of airguns or I should say restrict the use of them as you propose. They always go for more than they will be happy with, lets just hope they stop at licencing them.

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why do you think you will not be able to use one in your garden ?

It'll probably depend on the size of your "garden". But the traditional introduction to airguns - plinking cans/targets in the back garden - is not seen as a valid reason to own/use.

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Looks like going back to 1603 has not done you any favors then. ;)

 

I would think its doubtful they would ban the use of airguns or I should say restrict the use of them as you propose. They always go for more than they will be happy with, lets just hope they stop at licencing them.

 

Not as I propose, more's the pity,...and I was VERY surprised to read that the "approved ranges" clause was on the Bill

 

It's one thing to put them all on a licence, yet another to restrict use to clubs only - esp. given the rural nature of most of Scotland

 

The Bill will be a solution to NOTHING yet the cause of a whole new set of problems = which is the aim of the SNP all along

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It is nonsense that the debate should start before the people participating in the debate have been adequately equipped with information. In effect they are debating in the absence of key bits of information that make the whole thing nothing other than a political exercise with no fundamental basis in fact.

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This is going to be a problem if you live in Scotland, I think the UK should wake up to how narrow minded the SNP are. If you live in Scotland use your vote wisely. The SNP have ignored all discussion on this issue with learned bodies and forced through this bill to its current position.

Vote them out of power...Next month and next year in the Scottish elections.

I know I'm an Englishman dreaming in Scotland....but here's to hoping.

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More than likely a foregone conclusion..

 

When the Bill is passed it will be cheaper & easier to obtain an SGC

When the Bill is passed it will also be cheaper and easier to obtain an illegally held air gun; there are millions out there, so why would anyone apart from the law abiding bother to apply?

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When the Bill is passed it will also be cheaper and easier to obtain an illegally held air gun; there are millions out there, so why would anyone apart from the law abiding bother to apply?

And that is the absolute truth. It is legislation to pacify an outraged minority who were, rightly, appalled at the illegal shooting of a child.

 

What perhaps failed to resonate is that it is already illegal to shoot anybody with a gun, so why they think adding a lesser charge of having an unlicensed weapon makes that any stronger is lost on me. If there were no air guns in circulation it may make it harder to get them, but seeing as they are out there in huge quantity it is nothing other than abuse of legislation for political ends with no objective measure of success.

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So ask you SNP person if they are going to establish boarder posts that will stop and search ever vehicle coming into Scotland for contraband air guns . If this law is passed then the amount of "illegal" air weapons in Scotland will double very quickly as the "criminal element" will make more money out of these than out of cigarettes .

 

Come to think of it I might just set up shop a couple of miles south of the boarder to sell them.

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I see this as a massive problem and threat to shooting in general, again polititions use a dispicable crime to legislate against the law abiding masses.....oh and raise a few bob, sorry Scottish pounds.

 

I like many, learnt the craft of shooting a gun with my father in our back garden. It wasn't massive but big enough to put a few tins and targets out and I spent many hours with the Gamo Expo plinking away wishing i was as good as my dad. It taught me disipline, concentration and a respect for firearms......as well as being bloody enjoyable. I carried on in my teenage years with a Gamo CF and a Falcon FN12.

 

This bill will rob children of the right to shoot airguns in their gardens, it will push the price of airguns up further and ig will dissuade parents from trying it out with their children due to the hassle of getting a licence....then there are the possible storage requirements. Less new entrants is what they want

 

Do people not remember the handgun fiasco, once it happens in bonny Scotland it will be heading South before you've finished your dram.

 

The laws against shooting someody are already tight enough

Edited by Livefast123
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If licencing came in it would only be observed and complied with by legitimate people who have some idea of the law and the implications. The majority of owners wouldn't bother. You can see how little notice people take of the legislation by the number of airgunners who know nothing about the general licence or laws regarding airguns in general.

Lets hope the SNP don't gain any power with the help of the Greens because their manifesto wants a total ban on any kind of hunting/shooting of live quarry and an almost total ban on gun ownership.

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If licencing came in it would only be observed and complied with by legitimate people who have some idea of the law and the implications. The majority of owners wouldn't bother. You can see how little notice people take of the legislation by the number of airgunners who know nothing about the general licence or laws regarding airguns in general.

Lets hope the SNP don't gain any power with the help of the Greens because their manifesto wants a total ban on any kind of hunting/shooting of live quarry and an almost total ban on gun ownership.

You've hit the nail on the head there tt. Could'nt agree more. Many airgunners are blissfully ignorant when it comes to the legalities of shooting and the general licence in particular.

As regards to this election i would urge all shooters and indeed anyone who has a vested interest in country sports to think long and hard who you vote for if you value your hobby and care about its future ;)

ATB,

Pat

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Vince, there is no denying that Sturgeon is anti weapon, anti field sports, anti land owner, anti anything the she doesn't agree with quite frankly.

 

Of course with a big chunk of the population up here having a massive chip on their shoulder due to envy then it is easy to be populist and that is exactly what the SNP do and exactly what Scottish Labour have done for years too, just the SNP have trumped them recently.

 

Politics of envy is ugly and destructive.

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I would think its doubtful they would ban the use of airguns or I should say restrict the use of them as you propose. They always go for more than they will be happy with, lets just hope they stop at licencing them.

 

How does that sand taste Mr ostrich? FGS, HOPING they just stop at some arbitrary point that you would be happy with?! The SNP would gleefully see ALL types of air and firearm banned if they thought they could get away with it.

 

As already stated;

 

1/ Airgun crime is at an all time low - sledgehammer being used to crack a nut

2/ The additional burden on FLD's will at the very least massively slow down FAC/SGC grants, renewals and variations, but considering the recent staff cuts more likely utterly cripple them

3/ They don't need to have constant police patrols to catch people plinking in their gardens, most people will just comply and air gun shooting will die with those already involved as far fewer new people will be introduced

4/ This WILL come to the rest of the UK once its introduced in Scotland

 

Aren't the rest of you shooters sick of being kicked around as a political football?! Until we all stand together we'll just be picked off one by one. Its traditionally teenagers who are seen as the most apathetic in society, but considering the average age of a shooter in this country i think you can categorically say that thats a load of BS!

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How does that sand taste Mr ostrich? FGS, HOPING they just stop at some arbitrary point that you would be happy with?! The SNP would gleefully see ALL types of air and firearm banned if they thought they could get away with it.

 

As already stated;

 

1/ Airgun crime is at an all time low - sledgehammer being used to crack a nut

2/ The additional burden on FLD's will at the very least massively slow down FAC/SGC grants, renewals and variations, but considering the recent staff cuts more likely utterly cripple them

3/ They don't need to have constant police patrols to catch people plinking in their gardens, most people will just comply and air gun shooting will die with those already involved as far fewer new people will be introduced

4/ This WILL come to the rest of the UK once its introduced in Scotland

 

Aren't the rest of you shooters sick of being kicked around as a political football?! Until we all stand together we'll just be picked off one by one. Its traditionally teenagers who are seen as the most apathetic in society, but considering the average age of a shooter in this country i think you can categorically say that thats a load of BS!

very well said!unity and an allout fight on the slightest hint of legislation is whats needed anytime politicians rear their heads with stupid ideas.give em an inch and they will take 10miles!
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I was disappointed to see this thread moved to the air gunning section actually. I know it primarily concerns air gun legislation but is of monumental importance to shooters in general in my opinion and should therefore be in the general section lest some miss its possible implications.

It is purely idiotic and unworkable, unenforceable legislation, which will effect us all one way or another eventually, whether we live in Scotland or not and is of great importance I feel. It is yet another example of death by a thousand cuts. Drip drip drip......shooting in the UK slowly bleeds to death.

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