Thousands of air guns handed in across Scotland

More than 4,000 air guns have been handed in ahead of new licensing laws coming into force in Scotland.

Under new legislation it will be a criminal offence to have an air weapon without a licence or permit from 31 December.

However, a three-week amnesty for air gun owners to hand in their weapons is in place until 12 June.

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The biggest hand over so far was in Police Scotland's North East division, where 530 weapons were given up. 

The Scottish government pledged to introduce the licensing scheme following the death of Glasgow toddler Andrew Morton, who was shot dead by an airgun in 2005.
Under the new laws anyone found guilty of the new offence could be fined or face up to two years in prison.

Chief Inspector Richard Craig, who is leading Police Scotland’s air weapon campaign in the north east, said: "The surrender campaign has only been active for less than two weeks however it is very encouraging that so many air weapons have been handed in here in the north east already.

"Every one of these weapons has the potential to cause serious injury or death, in particular to children or young people if handled incorrectly.

"There will be many lying around in homes across the north east unused and this is a great opportunity to get rid of them."