Image copyright Thinkstock Image caption Laws to tighten access to air weapons were passed at Holyrood last year

Owners of air weapons are now required to have a licence following a tightening of firearms legislation.

From midnight it became illegal to keep a weapon without a permit.

The Scottish government has estimated there could be up to 500,000 air weapons in Scotland, but only 100,000 have been accounted for so far.

The new legislation, passed last year, came in the wake of the killing of two-year-old Andrew Morton who was shot in the head with an airgun pellet.

The Air Weapons and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2015 makes it a criminal offence to have an air weapon without a licence or permit and could see perpetrators fined or face up to two years in prison.

Thousands of weapons have already been handed in and destroyed and backers of the new law have said they believe it will curb gun crime.

Other arrangements

About 7,000 applications for licences, received by the end of October, were being processed and were due to be completed the 31st December deadline.

However, a further 3,500 owners who sought a permit in the past two months will have their applications determined in 2017.

They have been warned they must make arrangements to have their weapons stored with another firearms certificate holder - or they will be committing an offence.

Image caption Thousands of weapons were handed in during a three-week amnesty earlier in 2016

Air weapons were used in almost half of all offences involving a gun in the past year.

Justice Secretary Michael Matheson said: "Every day the police, the public and animal welfare groups have to face the results of air weapon misuse, from anti-social behaviour to horrific and deliberate injuries to wildlife, pets and very occasionally people.

"By licensing air weapons we will take them out of the hands of those who would misuse them and better protect our communities.

"The new law coming into force is part of our long-standing commitment to eradicate gun crime in Scotland. We are not banning air weapons outright, but ensuring their use is properly regulated and users have a legitimate reason for them.

"We believe the new licence strikes the right balance between protecting communities and allowing legitimate use in a safe environment to continue."

'Piece of tokenism'

Colin Shedden, the Scottish Director for the British Association for Shooting and Conservation, warned owners who do not have a licence to take action immediately.

"The advice that we are giving to people is that if you want to avoid breaking the law, and you don't have your air weapon certificate granted then what you need to do is find a friend who has an air weapon certificate, shotgun certificate, or firearm certificate and they can store it for you.

"You can also take it to a registered firearms dealer and ask them to store it for you, but time is running out."

Critics of the new law have said it will not reduce gun crime.

David Traill, owner of the Grahams of Inverness tackle and gun shop, said: "The laws to prevent the misuse of air rifles, or any firearm, or any weapon at all, are long established. The police already have those powers.

"This legislation is a piece of tokenism which really will achieve nothing.

"The people who will misuse air weapons are not the kind of people who are going to go to the trouble of licensing those weapons anyway."