A Scottish city could be the first in the UK to ban airguns under new proposals.
A motion to outlaw the weapons will be considered by councillors in Aberdeen, in a move welcomed by gun control campaigners.
It is believed to be the first time any local authority in Britain has sought a total ban on airguns.
The bid has been put forward by Norman Collie, a Labour councillor, who argues that there should be more powers in place to stop the weapons being abused.
Mr Collie said yesterday he had been advised by the council's legal teams that if his motion was supported, a relevant by-law could be passed, subject to Scottish Executive approval.
The councillor decided to take action in light of airgun attacks such as that which killed Andrew Morton, two, from Glasgow, and other incidents in Aberdeen.
He said: "I'm calling for the ban because the number of incidents involving airguns is creeping up across Scotland and something needs to be done about these lethal weapons. Whatever punishment these people are getting in the courts doesn't seen enough to stop these assaults.
"Something has to be done sooner rather than later."
The motion will be considered at a council meeting next month.
Mr Collie said he was "confident" that the motion would be supported by fellow councillors in the local authority, which is run by a joint Lib-Dem/Conservative alliance. A spokesman for Aberdeen City Council said yesterday: "It is up to each individual councillor if they want to put forward a motion and they are all considered."
A recent poll found that more than three-quarters of Scots would support a ban on airguns.
The survey was carried out on behalf of Tommy Sheridan, the Solidarity MSP, who has lodged a bill in the Scottish Parliament calling for the weapons to be outlawed.
The politician yesterday welcomed the Aberdeen move. He said: "If Aberdeen has found a way to use the ancient by-laws that exist, that is brilliant. We have got to take small steps towards the big goal on behalf of kids, emergency workers and animals."
His comments were echoed by David Grimason, whose toddler son Alistair was shot dead in his pushchair in Turkey four years ago.
Mr Grimason said: "Airguns have been proven to be dangerous to animals and humans. Obviously because of what happened to Alistair and my subsequent involvement worldwide with gun campaigning, I've seen what damage guns can cause."
He added: "Kids running around with airguns is the wrong message to send, and I'm all for Aberdeen being held up as an example of an airgun-free city." Mr Grimason, originally from East Kilbride, said the Aberdeen move was particularly timely because the "eyes of the world" are currently on the United Nations General Assembly's endorsement of an arms trade treaty.
A spokesman for the executive said that firearms legislation was reserved to the UK government.
He added: "As a result of our joint working with the Home Office, provisions in the Violent Crime Reduction Act will increase to 18 the age limit for owning an air weapon and introduce a new offence for a person of any age to fire an air weapon beyond the boundary of their premises.
"We are never complacent and officials continue to work with their Home Office counterparts and Acpos to explore what more can be done."
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Shootings
- Alistair Grimason, two, was killed in the crossfire of a gunfight in a Turkish cafe.
- Birmingham teenagers Charlene Ellis, 18, and Letisha Shakespeare, 17, were shot dead in 2003.
- Andrew Morton, two, from Glasgow was killed in March 2005 by an airgun pellet.
- In May 2005, Alex Cole, 12, from Doncaster, died after being shot through the eye with a high-powered air rifle.
- In October of that same year, a six-year-old girl was hit by a pellet from a similar weapon in a children's play park in Edinburgh.
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