To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will state the number of firearms licensed, by category, held in Scotland in each of the past 10 years.
The number of firearm and shotgun certificates in force in Scotland at 31 December is shown in the following table:
| Year | Firearm | Shotgun |
| 1980 | 38,752 | 85,126 |
| 1981 | 38,548 | 84,847 |
| 1982 | 38,115 | 84,183 |
| Crimes and Offences in Scotland recorded by the police in which a firearm was alleged to have been used, by main firearm used and police force area | |||||||
| Shotgun | Rifle | Pistol/ Revolver | Airweapon | Imitation/ Other1> | Total | Total (excluding airweaponsj | |
| Northern | |||||||
| 1980 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 10 |
| 1981 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 26 | 0 | 36 | 10 |
| 1982 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 19 | 0 | 32 | 13 |
| 1983 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 15 | 0 | 21 | 6 |
| 1984 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 1 | 29 | 10 |
| 1985 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 13 | 0 | 23 | 10 |
| 1986 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 0 | 18 | 6 |
| 1987 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 24 | 13 |
| 1988 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 27 | 13 |
| Grampian | |||||||
| 1980 | 22 | 6 | 0 | 144 | 4 | 176 | 32 |
| 1981 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 123 | 3 | 131 | 8 |
| 1982 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 106 | 0 | 113 | 7 |
| 1983 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 105 | 3 | 114 | 9 |
| 1984 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 79 | 2 | 94 | 15 |
| 1985 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 93 | 2 | 102 | 9 |
| 1986 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 86 | 0 | 89 | 3 |
| 1987 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 122 | 4 | 131 | 9 |
| 1988 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 120 | 3 | 128 | 8 |
| Tayside | |||||||
| 1980 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 22 | 2 | 36 | 14 |
| 1981 | 9 | 4 | 4 | 74 | 2 | 93 | 19 |
| 1982 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 80 | 4 | 96 | 16 |
| 1983 | 11 | 4 | 1 | 94 | 3 | 113 | 19 |
| 1984 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 57 | 0 | 70 | 13 |
| 1985 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 78 | 4 | 86 | 8 |
| 1986 | 13 | 0 | 2 | 84 | 9 | 108 | 24 |
| 1987 | 8 | I | 1 | 60 | 6 | 76 | 16 |
| 1988 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 32 | 3 | 41 | 9 |
| Fife | |||||||
| 1980 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 0 | 29 | 0 |
| 1981 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 13 | 0 | 14 | 1 |
| 1982 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 1 | 25 | 1 |
| 1983 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 26 | 1 | 30 | 4 |
| 1984 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 0 | 22 | 3 |
| 1985 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 30 | 1 | 36 | 6 |
| 1986 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 48 | 1 | 53 | 5 |
Year
| Firearm
| Shotgun
|
| 1983 | 37,825 | 84,306 |
| 1984 | 37,750 | 84,606 |
| 1985 | 38,165 | 86,198 |
| 1986 | 38,295 | 87,528 |
| 1987 | 38,465 | 89,104 |
| 1988 | 38,341 | 89,493 |
| 1989 | 33,540 | 87,049 |
Note: A certificate may authorise the holding of more than one firearm or shotgun. Figures for the total number of firearms and shotguns authorised to be held are not available.
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will bring forward proposals to further restrict the availability of shotguns.
The Firearms (Amendment) Act 1988 introduced stricter controls on the acquisition and possession of shotguns. There are no present plans to introduce further legislation, but the matter is kept under continuing review.
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list, by area, the number of reported offences involving the use of firearms, by category, in each of the past 10 years.
The information is given in the table. Data for 1989 are not yet available.
Shotgun
| Rifle
| Pistol/ Revolver
| Airweapon
| Imitation/ Other1
| Total
| Total (excluding airweapons)
| |
| 1987 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 50 | 1 | 56 | 6 |
| 1988 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 35 | 3 | 41 | 6 |
Lothian and Borders
| |||||||
| 1980 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 162 | 2 | 179 | 17 |
| 1981 | 8 | 4 | 10 | 125 | 2 | 149 | 24 |
| 1982 | 13 | 16 | 23 | 155 | 11 | 218 | 63 |
| 1983 | 16 | 3 | 13 | 121 | 9 | 162 | 41 |
| 1984 | 11 | 0 | 14 | 228 | 5 | 258 | 30 |
| 1985 | 25 | 1 | 12 | 329 | 23 | 390 | 61 |
| 1986 | 19 | 3 | 3 | 282 | 21 | 328 | 46 |
| 1987 | 15 | 5 | 10 | 184 | 18 | 235 | 51 |
| 1988 | 12 | 1 | 4 | 116 | 9 | 142 | 26 |
Central
| |||||||
| 1980 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 93 | 6 | 100 | 7 |
| 1981 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 89 | 0 | 94 | 5 |
| 1982 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 96 | 3 | 101 | 5 |
| 1983 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 74 | 0 | 77 | 3 |
| 1984 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 68 | 0 | 69 | 1 |
| 1985 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 91 | 3 | 95 | 4 |
| 1986 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 81 | 0 | 83 | 2 |
| 1987 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 69 | 0 | 69 | 0 |
| 1988 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 0 | 26 | 1 |
Strathclyde
| |||||||
| 1980 | 24 | 4 | 10 | 474 | 50 | 562 | 88 |
| 1981 | 48 | 3 | 10 | 672 | 61 | 794 | 122 |
| 1982 | 56 | 3 | 21 | 570 | 45 | 695 | 125 |
| 1983 | 81 | 2 | 25 | 645 | 65 | 818 | 173 |
| 1984 | 92 | 4 | 5 | 614 | 88 | 803 | 189 |
| 1985 | 78 | 0 | 6 | 719 | 114 | 917 | 198 |
| 1986 | 109 | 1 | 4 | 605 | 112 | 831 | 226 |
| 1987 | 97 | 5 | 13 | 586 | 122 | 823 | 237 |
| 1988 | 103 | 0 | 7 | 473 | 151 | 734 | 261 |
Dumfries and Galloway
| |||||||
| 1980 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 1981 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 1982 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 1983 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 1984 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 8 |
| 1985 | 11 | 4 | 1 | 10 | 0 | 26 | 16 |
| 1986 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 15 | 7 |
| 1987 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 1 | 15 | 3 |
| 1988 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 2 | 19 | 10 |
Scotland
| |||||||
| 1980 | 62 | 20 | 22 | 924 | 65 | 1,093 | 169 |
| 1981 | 84 | 14 | 26 | 1,122 | 68 | 1,314 | 192 |
| 1982 | 98 | 24 | 47 | 1,050 | 64 | 1,283 | 233 |
| 1983 | 120 | 11 | 43 | 1,081 | 81 | 1,336 | 255 |
| 1984 | 137 | 13 | 23 | 1,084 | 96 | 1,353 | 269 |
| 1985 | 129 | 8 | 28 | 1,363 | 147 | 1,675 | 312 |
| 1986 | 157 | 6 | 11 | 1,206 | 145 | 1,525 | 319 |
| 1987 | 142 | 17 | 24 | 1,094 | 152 | 1,429 | 335 |
| 1988 | 139 | 9 | 13 | 824 | 173 | 1,158 | 334 |
1 The rise in the "Other" category of firearm type in 1985 probably reflects the introduction in that year of a new firearm type category, "Unidentified", in the data collection procedures. Previously, unidentified types of firearm would have been forced into one of the specific categories. | |||||||
2 Variations in police recording practice can occur between areas and over time. It is known that the introduction of computerised crime logging systems has resulted in improved recording procedures and as such systems come to be more used minor corrections to recorded figures will continue to occur. | |||||||