Clause 27 - Firing an air weapon beyond premises
Violent Crime Reduction Bill
11:00 am
John Thurso (Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland (And Transport), Scotland; Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, Liberal Democrat)
I beg to move amendment No. 153, in clause 27, page 29, line 19, after 'it', insert ', intentionally or recklessly,'.
I seek again to ask a question of the Government. The clause as a whole, I entirely agree with, and I have no question about its intention. However, I want to ask the Minister whether all points have been considered. Is it possible to discharge an air weapon from a premises unintentionally in a manner that is not reckless? If that is case, should the words intentionally or recklessly be added in order to strengthen the definition? In some very limited circumstances it is possible. I hope that we shall not have a rural versus urban split when discussing this, because the example that I would give would be of a crofter. I am sure that the Committee is aware that a croft is made up of the crofter's own land—the in by land—and common grazing, which is owned either by the estate or by the crofter.