A Braveheart impersonator has been charged with firearms offences after police received a complaint about “a man with a blue face firing a gun”. Adam Watters, who performs dressed as William Wallace in Edinburgh’s tourist hotspots, insists that his weapons are blank-firing replicas and that he has been the victim of heavy-handed policing.
Police in Edinburgh seized the performer’s replica guns in February 2012 following an incident on the Royal Mile. Watters was detained by police and had his entire collection confiscated after informing officers he had more replicas at home. Earlier this month he was advised he was being charged with possessing guns without a licence.
As a result of the charges, Watters said he is unable to teach Jacobite history at schools in Edinburgh and East Lothian. “I just feel it is an injustice. It is like taking paint from a painter as these are the tools of my trade. They are all part of an act that I have put my heart into to teach schoolchildren and build up my performance.”
Watters has worked with the Clanranald Trust on stunts for a number of movies, including Pirates of the Caribbean, Gladiator and King Arthur, and claims to have documentation that will certify the weapons are blank-firers.
“I don’t need a licence for them because they were never real guns – they are for use by actors and entertainers. They fire blanks and cannot be converted to fire projectiles. If they make me get a licence it opens up a whole can of worms for thousands of people across the world who use these blank-firers.”
Watters is currently awaiting the outcome of a report sent to the procurator fiscal. “My weapon was about as harmless as a fart, I just want my stuff back so I can go back to my school teaching as at the moment I can’t teach because of this charge. You get a bang, smoke and a spark, that’s all. I’m no threat to anyone.”
You can support Adam on Facebook, and sign the petition to get the charges dropped here.
*** UPDATE – We’re glad to hear that the charges against Adam were dropped on 4/4/2013.