A MOTHER has joined campaigners in calling for a complete ban on airguns after her 11-month-old son was shot in the face as he played by her side at home.
Jay McGuire was in a baby walker when an airgun pellet was fired through the first-floor window of his home, hitting him between the eyes.
The boy's 28-year-old mother, Amanda, looked on in horror as the child began screaming in pain and she saw the wound on his head.
Police and medics said he could have been killed if the pellet had not first ricocheted, taking some speed out of the shot. Police said an 11-year-old boy has been reported to the children's panel in connection with the incident.
The shooting comes after a 12-year-old boy, Mitchel Picken, from Stone-on-Trent, was killed at the weekend, shot in the eye with an air rifle.
Ms McGuire, from Uddingston in Lanarkshire, said she had feared for her son's life and recalled the death of Andrew Morton from Easterhouse, in Glasgow, who was killed when he was hit by an airgun pellet while out with his elder brother.
Ms McGuire said: "When I read about wee Andrew Morton, it really got to me. It was all that was running through my head, because they are nearly the same age. It really only sank in later what could have happened and I was horrified.
"When I took him to the hospital, the doctors said he had been very lucky. He could have been killed or if the pellet had stuck an inch on either side, he could have lost an eye."
Campaigners have been frustrated with the new legislation dealing with airguns passed at Westminster in the Violent Crime Reduction Bill.
The bill will increase the legal age for buying an airgun to 18, banning internet and mail order sales and will require dealers to be licensed. Anti-gun campaigners said the latest potentially deadly incident could have been avoided.
Charlie Clydesdale, whose daughter Victoria was killed in the Dunblane tragedy, said: "There is no need for these things to be on the streets. They need to be taken off altogether. Somebody starts off just playing with them, then they get an idea of what they can do with them and that's how it can go wrong."
Opposition MSPs including SNP justice spokesman Kenny MacAskill called for the Scottish Parliament to seek additional powers to introduce a complete ban.
Ms McGuire said she was behind the campaign to ban airguns and said there was no reason for them to be available on the open market after the attack. She has complained to North Lanarkshire Council officials and demanded that she is moved to another area following the attack.
Ms McGuire said: "I can't believe it happened in our own home. We always leave our window open because I could never imagine that something like this could happen."
Mark Bonini was convicted of murdering Andrew Morton in March 2005, and was jailed for life with a recommendation he serve 13 years before being considered for release. He launched an appeal against his conviction, which was rejected in June this year by judges.
Two 12-year-old boys were arrested and released on bail in connection with the shooting of Mitchel Picken on Saturday.
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