Are there any provisions relating to firearms in Scottish ASB legislation?
A. There is nothing in the Antisocial Behaviour etc (Scotland) Act 2004 to cover firearms, however part 5 of the Antisocial Behaviour Act 2003 covers firearms, and is the only part of that Act that covers Scotland. These provisions came into effect on 20th January 2004. The main areas that the 2003 Act makes amendments to are in relation to the possession of firearms in a public place, air weapons age limits and prohibition of certain air weapons. Section 37 of the 2003 Act adds to the list of firearms covered by the offence in s.19 of the Firearms Act 1968 of carrying a firearm in a public place without lawful authority or reasonable excuse. That offence previously applied to loaded shotguns, loaded air weapons or any other firearm (whether loaded or not) together with its ammunition. Subsection 1 of section 37 adds to this unloaded air weapons and imitation firearms.
