Senior Police Scotland firearms officer brands UK gun laws 'outdated'

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A senior Police Scotland firearms officer has suggested that the UK’s gun laws are out of date.Superintendent Steven Duncan, Head of National Firearms and Explosives Licensing for the force, acknowledged the 54-year-old legislation could cause issues and said changes would be made if it was rewritten from scratch.He made the comments during an appearance at Westminster’s Scottish Affairs Committee meeting on firearms licensing regulations which published its minutes last week.It comes amid heightened scrutiny of the UK’s gun laws - much of which has been prompted by a Sunday Mail investigation into gun clubs which can get round the rules.Superintendent Duncan said: “It has been said in other submissions that the legislation is now over 50 years old.“Yes there have been amendments to that legislation over the course of that time but even the existing legislation was an amalgamation of legislation even dating beyond that.“So I think for me, if we were rewriting it from scratch, I think it would be done in a slightly different way.“There’s certainly opportunities to be clearer and more concise in what the legislation states.”The Sunday Mail has backed calls for laws to be updated and tightened to cover advances in technology and sharing of information online including to stop criminals making 3D-printed guns in their own homes.High-grade plastic weapons can now be manufactured using a 3D printer for as little as £200 using developments in computer-aided design.Gun control campaigners who have recently called for firearms laws to be toughened up have welcomed the senior officer’s comments.Criminologist Peter Squires said firearms laws need to be updated to tackle modern day issues.The emeritus professor of criminology and