The Evening Gazette, Middlesbrough, has gained an exclusive interview Home Office minister Bob Ainsworth as part of its Ban Young Guns campaign.

The Evening Gazette has been campaigning since June in a bid to stop the rising number of air weapon tragedies and recently received a letter from Tony Blair which advised it to contact the minister who is responsible for reviewing laws on airgun ownership.

And in an interview with the paper the minister responded to its calls for a ban on airgun ownership by those aged under 18 and for stricter controls on ammunition supply.

He said: “We are looking at whether we can do something that’s going to be effective to reduce the amount of airguns which are in the hands of people who are going to misuse them.

“And we are not looking at that in ‘sometime never’. We are looking at that with a degree of urgency.

“But I am balancing that with the fact that I do not want to rush into something that makes us feel good as politicians but effectively achieves nothing at the end of the day. Whatever we do needs to be affective.”

The Minister talked about looking at a possible registration process or raising the age limits of ownership. He also said the Home Office intends to consult closely with the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO).

Evening Gazette editor Steve Dyson said: “I would like to thank Mr Ainsworth for quickly responding to our challenge to share his plans with us.

“Registration and raising the age limits sound like just the things that are needed, and I welcome the fact that these options will be looked at properly.

“We now expect to be fully informed at progress at all stages.”

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