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Recorded crimes and offences involving firearms, 2006-07
23/10/2007
Scotland's Chief Statistician today published Recorded Crimes and Offences involving firearms, Scotland, 2006-07. The publication includes key statistics on the number of crimes and offences recorded by the police in which a firearm was alleged to have been used.
The main findings are:
- Figures for recent years have been affected by a number of changes to the way in which crimes and offences involving a firearm are recorded. The main impact of these changes has been an increase in the recorded use of identified weapon types, such as air weapons, and an increase in the recorded figures in some of the more minor crime categories
- In 2006-07 the Scottish police recorded 1,245 offences in which a firearm was alleged to have been used, an increase of 17 per cent from the total of 1,068 recorded in 2005-06, and the highest number in the 10 year period covered by this bulletin
- The number of offences in which a firearm was fired and killed or caused injury to a person increased by a quarter, from 197 in 2005-06 to 247 in 2006-07
- In 2006-07, 57 per cent of all offences in which a firearm was alleged to have been used were cleared up, compared with the 43 per cent cleared up in 2005-06 and the highest clear-up rate in the 10 year period covered by this bulletin
- There were large increases in the number of offences of 'reckless conduct with a firearm' and 'other crimes and offences', mainly due to the changes in recording practices
There have been a number of changes in recording practices in recent years, along with a clarification of the scope of the firearms return. The main changes to the return are:
From 2005-06, police forces agreed to identify weapons whenever possible, based on evidence such as type of damage caused even if the weapon was not recovered. As expected, this has led to an increase in the identified firearms categories and a decrease in the number of unidentified firearms.
From 2006-07, forces agreed to include incidents involving air weapons where no injury or damage was caused. These incidents were excluded in previous years. This change would be expected to increase both the total number of offences of reckless conduct with a firearm and the total number of offences involving air weapons.
From 2005-06, and particularly in 2006-07, the figures are expected to provide a fuller coverage of incidents from all forces. This follows clarification with the forces regarding what should be included in the returns. This clarification is not anticipated to impact on the major crimes and offences, but has probably resulted in an increase in the more minor categories.