Air guns, air rifles and air pistols are exempt of certification under the Firearms Act 1968 as
long as they are low powered and not classed as ‘specially dangerous’.

I am campaigning to have this law changed after finding my 3 year old cat Lacey on my driveway unable to move, scared and covered in blood. 

The RSPCA published that they welcome “The Government’s recent commitment to review the regulation of airguns in England and Wales and we await with interest the detail of this review and look forward to contributing to it.” But so far nothing has ‘changed significantly’ 

In my case it was my very loved family cat Lacey that got shot by a air rifle. These unlicensed firearms cause damage to Dogs, Cats, Wild animals, Birds and Farm animals. 

The current legal controls on air weapons are under Section 1(3) of the Firearms Act 1968 exempts certain firearms from the controls under s1 firearm certificates. Airguns are included within this exemption and are defined under s57(4) of the Act. As such air guns, air rifles and air pistols are exempt of certification as long as they are low powered and not declared as ‘specially dangerous’ by the Firearms (Dangerous Air Weapons) Rules 1969. Any air weapon is 2 classed as ‘specially dangerous’ if it is capable of discharging a missile in excess of certain kinetic energy .
In addition the Crime and Security Act 2010 makes it an offence for a person under the age of 18 to purchase or hire an airgun or ammunition for an airgun. However someone under the age of 18 can have an airgun or ammunition with them if they are under the supervision of a person aged 21 or over, or they are shooting as a member of an approved target club, or shooting gallery, or they are over 14 years old and on private premises with the consent of the occupier. It is also an offence for anyone to use an airgun for firing a pellet beyond the boundaries of any premises.

Most offences occur in built up areas however there are very few convictions. Lacey was shot in Wellingore which is a very little village outside of Lincoln. It was only fairly recently that forensic ballistic science has been able to prove which weapon fired which pellet but this is only part of the equation to successful prosecution. It is often of little use without police having records of people holding such firearms in any neighbourhood. This can and will only be achieved through certification otherwise it is like looking for a needle in a haystack.

SCOTLAND HAS ACTED!

The Air Weapons and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2015 introduced new rules in Scotland requiring amongst other things for airguns to be licensed. According to the Scottish SPCA this has had a positive effect on the complaints they have received concerning attacks on animals and they have seen a 75% drop in complaints. 

There are so many animals that are tortured and killed by people with unlicensed Air rifles. Imagine being shot for no reason. As an animal, domesticated or wild you would be so confused. You wouldn’t understand the pain and you would be scared. Some animals don’t even make it home because if their injuries, they will wonder around until they collapse in pain and just die. This leaves the family’s of these beloved animals forever wondering where there beloved pet went and having to explain to their children why he/she isn’t coming back. It is heartbreaking.
For the animals that do luckily make it home the owners are faced with large vets bills, the uncertainty if their animal will survive/be ok and the fear of the unknown in letting them out again. This in turn, has a negative Impact as the animal if well enough may then become an ‘indoor cat’ which is against its nature but sometimes unavoidable. 

There have been human cases of shootings with unlicensed firearms. I don’t think I need to go into too much detail regarding the horrific accident involving 6 year old Stanley Metcalf. He tragically lost his life because of an unlicensed firearm. 
There is no doubt that these guns need regulating and the owners Educated. 

The guns and their shooters have destroyed the lives of so many people and their families. So I am hoping to campaign to get this into parliament to get the laws around unlicensed firearms changed to mirror that of Scotlands. 

In the meantime Lacey is awaiting to see if we can remove the bullet after a course of antibiotics to stop infection. We will of course do whatever we can to make sure Lacey gets a good quality of life but with a 9 month old baby and another one on the way money is not never ending. Just reading and sharing will help raise awareness of this cowardly and horrid crime. 

We need to get to 10,000 signatures to start then the petitions get a response from the government. After 100,000 signatures, petitions are considered for debate in Parliament. Please help us make this happen.

I wish to thank you all for your Support.