Controversy over age limit for children hots up

The controversy over whether children should be permitted to use airguns at shooting ranges continued to hot up during the debate on the Arms Bill in Parliament yesterday.

While Nationalist MP David Agius on Tuesday said the age threshold should be reduced to 12, Labour MP Adrian Vassallo said there should not be any limit. Nationalist MP Clyde Puli warned however that further reducing the age threshold could pose a danger to society and encourage the use of guns.

The bill provides that children aged between 16 and 18 may be granted a licence to practice target shooting with airguns, long firearms and smoothbore barrels and muzzle-loading firearms on a licensed range.

Children aged between 14 and 16 would be allowed to use airguns at ranges.

In both cases, shooting would only take place with consent from parents or legal guardians and the children would have to be supervised.

Labour MP Anglu Farrugia said the bill was an opportunity to create a balance between security and sports shooting and make the latter more popular. It could also encourage hunters to opt for clay pigeon shooting.

He pointed out that the last amnesty on unregistered weapons was granted under the Labour government in 1988. It therefore made sense to consider granting another amnesty so that the registry could be as complete as possible. Some people inherited firearms and their records often got lost.

The government, however, needed to clarify the criteria used by the commissioner for the granting of firearm licences. Women who lived alone, for example, should, like their counterparts in Europe, have the right for a licence to posses a firearm for self defence if they were harassed. The same applied for the elderly, those living in uninhabited areas and shop owners such as of jewellers, who were often the target of crime.

On airguns, he said it was stupid for one to be able to buy an air gun from a shop but then not be granted a licence. What was one supposed to do with the airgun if one was granted a licence to keep but not to carry?

He agreed that people who were under 18 should be allowed to practice shooting under supervision at shooting ranges. In Cyprus such sports was practiced by people who were as young as 12. Intensive training from such a young age helped people become champions.

Dr Farrugia pointed out that according to the bill, weapons held by a collector could not be in working order. Yet there already were collectors who had licenses to keep weapons which were in working order.

On a point of order, Home Affairs Minister Tonio Borg said that those who already held licences would not to be affected.

Dr Farrugia said that this should also count for unregistered but existing weapons already held by collectors.

Nationalist MP Clyde Puli said now that minors were to be allowed to use firearms, it was important that the use of such weapons had the consent of their parents since they would be held responsible. The minors who would be using the weapons also had to be members of a club and had to follow a course on the use of the weapons.

Mr Puli said he feared that as the age limit for the use of weapons was reduced, there would be a stronger culture for the use of weapons and this could be dangerous. So contrary to what other MPs were saying, he did not agree that the age threshold should be lowered further.

It was the duty of legislators to protect society as a whole and there had to be justified limitations.

Carmelo Abela, opposition spokesman on sports, insisted that once there were clear regulations on the use of firearms, including for sports, there would not be abuse.

Mr Abela asked about the role of the Maltese Olympic Committee and the Maltese Sports Council in the context of this law.

With regard to the new Weapons Board, Mr Abela suggested that one of the members should be a representative of the Maltese Sports Council. The council should be mentioned explicitly in the provisions of the bill.

He also insisted that there should be clear regulations to govern the operation of shooting ranges. Would firearm licences be issued by the Police Commissioner or by the board?

The question of the minimum age of those allowed to use weapons raised understandable controversy. The bill would allow children as young as 14 to use airguns under supervision at ranges. It was important that such children were members of a recognised club, not any club. The club, in turn, has to be recognised by the Maltese Olympic Committee and by the Maltese Sports Council.

The carrying of the firearm also had to be regulated in case of minors.

Mr Abela noted that some were of the view that younger children should also be allowed to shoot at the ranges. It was well known that in order to become a champion one has to go through extensive training starting at a young age. It was possible for Malta to be successful in this type of sport. Of course one should take the necessary precautions. The legal guardian and a member of the club should supervise a child while he was shooting. The age of 14 was more or less acceptable, but one had to see how the law would be applied in this respect. Once there was seriousness and there was no abuse, one could then consider being more adventurous about issuing licences at an earlier age.

He hoped that once demand for sports shooting rose, Mepa would not unduly delay issuing permits.

Mr Abela said the structure within the police force responsible for firearms needed to be strengthened. At present there were only three firearm experts but they would be reaching pensionable age soon.

Mr Abela said sports shooting could be an opportunity for growth in sports tourism, now that the law was being eased.

Concluding, Mr Abela called for collaboration between the Weapons Board and Heritage Malta over antique weapons.

Adrian Vassallo (MLP) insisted that it was not the gun which made the criminal. Other things, such as violent video games where the player shot at policemen, were more harmful.

He observed that target shooting was still very restricted in Malta. Up to 1995 no one could even own an airgun. In that year import licences were issued and 4,000 were immediately bought. But no new licences were issued for shooting ranges. The years rolled by, more guns were bought but no permits were issued, meaning the people were shooting illegally in fields and from roofs. Then Jesmond Mugliett, Sports Minister at the time, visited the Commonwealth Games in the UK where he met and congratulated the Maltese shooters, who had been practicing illegally in the sense that the Bidnija shooting range, although built and ready, was not licensed.

In effect, these people, by continuing to practice in this way, had enjoyed a five-year advantage over others who kept on the right side of the law. And no one batted an eyelid for a whole seven years when permits were finally granted.

Dr Vassallo said he disagreed with the age thresholds imposed by this bill. In many European countries, the US and Canada, there were no age limits. No licences were needed for most airguns abroad. It was well known that Malta's double trap champion started shooting when aged 10. He started representing the country when aged 16. There was nothing wrong in this, other than that the law had been broken.

Now the government was squandering an opportunity to remove the limits and thus have a level playing field for all those who wanted to shoot, whether on the right or the wrong side of the law. The important thing was that children were supervised by authorised personnel. There was no danger in a shooting range. Children did far worse when they played violent video games. All countries let children aged 10 practice shooting at ranges while also learning safety techniques, but Malta wanted to be the exception.

If the government was against having children shooting, why had no police action been taken against those who had been doing practice shooting for a very long time?

Dr Vassallo said he also could not understand why one would need to be a member of a shooting club in order to start practice shooting. Surely one should be allowed to go to a range and learn to shoot under supervision, before considering club membership and its associated costs. This was the practice abroad. The Maltese authorities were being unduly fearful when, he would insist, that it was not weapons which caused crime, but people. Such precautions were unjustified and would not stop crime.

What Malta needed to do was to enforce the provisions of the law covering safety precautions such as in the way firearms were kept. After all, more deaths and injuries were caused by accidents in homes than at ranges or with criminal intent.

Dr Vassallo added however that he was against reducing the age for hunting, currently at 18. Sixteen would not be the right age. Indeed, encouraging people to start practising at shooting ranges from a younger age could keep many away from hunting.

Other speakers will be reported tomorrow.