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)
Actually, as far as I am aware, although some crofters are tenants on my estate, I made an offer to all who wished to buy that they could do so, and the majority have bought their crofts. I am extremely pleased about that. I suspect that if I give a further answer along those lines I shall be out of order, so let me press on.
The first point of training for anybody who is responsibly using a firearm is safety. I well remember the first time that my father handed a shotgun to me. I lifted it, and he immediately took it back and gave me the sternest possible dressing down because I did not have it pointed either at the floor or the ceiling, which is the safe way to do it. There is an old maxim: ''Never never let your gun pointed be at anyone''. I learnt that lesson at a tender age, and it is one that I have also imparted to my own children.
One of the problems that can happen with a number of firearms—not so much with shotguns but with firearms and air weapons—is an accidental discharge. One therefore holds the weapon in such a manner that should such an occurrence happen, the discharge is safe: one either points it to the ground or the sky.