Police destroy hundreds of handed-in guns

HUNDREDS of potentially deadly guns were today being destroyed by police.

A total of 600 guns, including airguns, BB guns and shotguns, have been handed in to Lothian and Borders Police since November.

A campaign in the last month saw 180 guns handed in to police. The move followed the death of toddler Andrew Morton, who was shot near his home in Easterhouse, Glasgow.

It also came in the wake of the shooting of six-year-old Tyler Scott in Edinburgh.

The force appealed for weapons to be handed in as part of a National Air Gun Campaign launched by the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland. The gun haul included 118 air rifles, 49 air pistols and 13 BB guns.

There are thought to be as many as 400,000 air weapons in Scotland, and owners were asked to hand in weapons to a police station to be destroyed.