By Sarah Robinson

Last updated at 14:38, Thursday, 29 July 2010

A NEW campaign is calling for a gun and knife amnesty in Cumbria.

Already hundreds have joined a support group on social networking site Facebook, and local politicians and police representatives are being asked to get behind the campaign.

Whitehaven School teacher Rob Huck said petitions are being delivered to shops and businesses across the county in support of the campaign.

The call comes after a 49-year-old West Cumbrian man was sentenced to 12 months in prison for possessing a shotgun without a licence. Tony Skillen, of Cockermouth, had admitted owning a gun and his family said he tried to apply for a licence for it, but was refused.

Now his friends and family are petitioning for the amnesty.

Cumbria’s Chief Constable Craig Mackey is to raise the issue when he meets the Prime Minister in September. All proposals must be approved by the Home Office before they can take affect.

Cumbria police had already held a gun amnesty between April and June this year for a particular type of blank-firing revolver, which could be converted to fire real ammunition.

And following the June 2 shootings in Copeland, the Home Office said it was already considering a review of gun control laws.

This campaign is asking for an amnesty on all types of guns and knives.

To raise public support, Rob Huck’s wife Julie – Mr Skillen’s sister – has set up a Facebook group, called: At Tony Skillen’s request A gun and knife amnesty in Cumbria.

Mrs Huck said she set up the group to tell people about the campaign as well as explain about her brother’s situation.

She said one of Mr Skillen’s friends died around 15 years ago and left him a gun. Although, Mr Skillen applied for a licence, he was refused on medical grounds.

As he was a beck watcher on the River Derwent, he used the gun to control vermin on the river where he worked. But he was in possession of an illegal firearm.

Mr Huck said: “We are appealing against the sentence on the ground that it is excessive. Tony broke the law and deserves to be punished, but we feel that to take a working man away from his family and community, and make him on a burden on society by putting him in jail, is harsh and illogical.”

Mr Huck added: “Tony is a “man of the land” and the rifle was in some respects, a tool of his trade. Had he been given an opportunity to hand it in, without fear of prosecution, there is no doubt he would have done so.”

First published at 15:41, Wednesday, 28 July 2010
Published by http://www.whitehaven-news.co.uk