| Description | Statistics on firearms in Scotland |
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| ISBN | (Web Only) |
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| Official Print Publication Date | |
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| Website Publication Date | August 24, 1999 |
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4. Shot gun certificates (Tables 3, 4 and 4A)
Number of shot gun certificates on issue and new applications (Table 3)
4.1 At the end of 1998, a total of 63,100 shot gun certificates were on issue, the lowest level ever recorded. This represented 115 fewer certificates than the previous year and 26,393 below the number on issue in 1988 when the number of shot gun certificates on issue reached its peak. Since 1988 the number of shot gun certificates on issue at each year end has decreased; this contrasts with the period prior to the implementation of the 1988 Act when the numbers were increasing steadily. Of the total number of shot gun certificates in force at 31 December 1998, the approximate number of shot guns possessed on certificate was 129,600. (The same recording practices applicable to firearms - see paragraph 3.12 - also apply to shot guns).
4.2 During 1998, 1,494 applications for new shot gun certificates were granted, a decrease of 233 from the 1,727 granted in 1997. This was the lowest number of new applications granted for shot gun certificates since 1983, when figures were first available. It contributed to the overall decrease in the number of shot gun certificates on issue at the year end. In 1998, 36 new applications (2 per cent of all new applications) were refused.
Number of shot gun certificates renewed, cancelled and revoked (Tables 4 and 4A)
4.3 For the same reasons described in paragraph 3.5, the number of shot gun certificates renewed in 1998 was only 173, with 16 applications for renewal refused. There were 1,509 cancellations of existing certificates, representing 2.4 per cent of the total number of shot gun certificates on issue at the end of the previous year. There were 129 revocations of shot gun certificates in 1998 (0.2 per cent of the total number of shot gun certificates on issue at the end of the previous year).
Analysis by police force area (Table 4)
4.4 The highest number of shot gun certificates on issue was in Strathclyde which accounted for approximately one-fifth (12,592) of all certificates on issue at the year end. The number of shot gun certificates on issue per head of population at 31 December 1998 was highest in Northern police force area (3,820 per 100,000 population) and lowest in Strathclyde (554 per 100,000 population). In Scotland as a whole, there were 1,232 shot gun certificates on issue at the end of 1998 per 100,000 population compared with 1,234 per 100,000 population at the end of 1997.
4.5 Northern Constabulary recorded the highest number of applications for new shot gun certificates granted, 316 (21 per cent of the total number of applications granted). Six of the 8 police forces recorded a decrease in the number of new applications granted in 1998 when compared to the previous year. Central Scotland Police and Northern Constabulary recorded increases of 19 per cent and 48 per cent respectively.
Chart 4 Firearm and shot gun certificates on issue at 31 December 1998 per 100,000 population
