High Level Summary of Statistics Trend Last update: Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Crimes Involving a Firearm
In 2008-09, Scottish police recorded 949 offences in which a firearm was alleged to have been used, a decrease of 17 per cent from 2007-08. The number of offences in which a firearm was fired and killed or caused injury to a person decreased from 212 in 2007-08 to 138 in 2008-09.
Over the last 10 years, air weapons have consistently been the most common identified weapon used in recorded crimes involving a firearm.
There have been a number of changes to the ways in which firearm crimes are recorded in recent years. From 2005-06, and particularly for 2006-07, the figures are expected to provide more extensive coverage of all crimes and weapons used. The main impact of these changes was 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.
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Source: Justice Analytical Services
(1) There have been a number of changes to how weapons are identified in recent years. Also, from 2005-06 there was a clarification of the scope of the return which is expected to have increased numbers in certain crime categories and weapon types.
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