FIRST Minister Alex Salmond is intending to introduce legislation to ban airguns within a year, in a move designed to tackle Scotland's burgeoning gun culture. The SNP leader wants a commitmenttoaScotland-only Firearms Bill to be the result of further talks with UK ministers on weapons-related crime.
His preference is for legislation to be introduced at Holyrood, even though the gun laws are a reserved matter.
The question of gun crime has again reached the top of the political agenda after the Rhys Jones shooting.
His death has prompted ministers on both sides of the Border to refocus their efforts on tackling the weapons culture.
The SNP fought the last Holyrood election on a commitment to "repatriate" firearms legislation to Scotland.
Subsequent talks between the SNP Executive and the government led to UK ministers promising to consider a Scotland-only ban.
Now Salmond is committed to laying "a framework" that will lead to separate airgun legislation.
His first option is to persuade the governmenttodevolvecontrolofthe firearms legislation, something SNP sources say is being considered in Whitehall.
The second approach is for Holyrood to pass a "reverse Sewell", a complicated procedure whereby it would legislate to ban airguns despite the matter being reserved.
A source close to Salmond said the latter option could result in firearms legislation, and an airgun ban, being pushed through within 12 months.
UK-wide legislation went on to the statute book last year restricting the sale of airguns and raised the age limit for ownership, but SNP ministers want to push ahead with a full ban.
In March 2005, two-year-old Andrew Morton was killed by an airgun as he played near his house in Easterhouse, Glasgow. In the past eight years, 11,154 Scots have been injured by the weapons, and three people have died.
A spokesman for Salmond said: "There has been constructive dialogue between Scottish ministers and their Westminster counterparts on enabling the Scots parliament to lay a framework foraconsolidatedFirearmsAct designedforScottishneedsand circumstances.
"This is an area where we would like to secure progress as soon as possible, as we would wish early legislation, and the response has been understanding and sympathetic.
The Secretary of State for Scotland Des Browne said: "Firearms control is an issue which affects every community across the country and one the UK government has retained a close focus on in recent months.
"It is self-evident to say it is in everyone's interests to have effective legislation governing the circulation and use of weapons such as airguns in order to safeguard the public.
"We are aware of the issues raised by Scottish ministers and, while our discussions with the Scottish Executive remain at an early stage, our priority is to work with it and other devolved administrations to ensure communities throughoutUKareprotectedfrom gun crime."
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