SCOTTISH police forces are receiving a spin off from the current post-Dunblane firearms surrender in the form of tip-offs about illicit guns, some in the possession of legitimate firearms certificate holders.
The information has been trickling in, mostly in phone calls, but is being regarded as valuable on the basis that any illegal gun is better off the street in case it falls into the wrong hands.
The forces say that the general response from Scottish gun owners has been good and that they expect to collect all the large-calibre guns in legal circulation before the deadline on the last day of this month.
Lothian and Borders Police has already this week destroyed the first batch of 54 weapons with the other seven forces expected to start the process soon.
Mr Alex Moffat, civilian firearms officer at Fife Constabulary and secretary of the group set up by the Scottish forces to arrange the hand-in, said yesterday: ''The vast majority of gun owners here are being reasonable. Some are making remarks such as 'I expect my gun will turn up in Belgium' but we must emphasise that every weapon will be destroyed.''
The smooth hand over in Scotland is in contrast to what has happened south of the Border, where the gun lobby has been much more highly politicised and was out of direct contact with the impact of the Dunblane murders. Senior Scottish police sources have told The Herald that a ''them and us'' situation has developed in some English forces with resentment building up among gun owners.
The Scottish Office has adopted a low key attitude, leaving the hand-over to the police, which also contrasts with the strident message coming from the Home Office. Home Office Minister Alun Michael this week urged owners to hand in their weapons as soon as possible if they wanted to claim the compensation and pointed to the severe penalties for illegal possession - up to 10 years in jail.
Under the public safety concerns expressed, the sub-text is serious concern that the hand-in could deteriorate in its final two weeks into a logistical nightmare as compensation claims pile up.
The Herald understands that one particular London-based claims adjuster, to whom many firearms owners have turned for specialist valuation, has been swamped and that others in this field are under pressure. Only a small proportion of the #50m set aside for compensation has been paid out.
The Home Office has said that 56,800 guns had been handed in by the end of August, 14,500 of these being small-calibre weapons surrendered in anticipation of the total ban which the Government intend to be in place by the end of this year, the legislation for which is currently before the House of Lords.
The Scottish forces are acknowledging that the total number handed in here may eventually be slightly lower than the number of certificated weapons because of small discrepancies in paperwork between forces.
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