To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many applications for a shotgun licence have been received during the last year for which figures are available from residents of (a) Dumfries and Galloway and (b) Scotland; and how many of these were refused. [108957]

The most recent available information on applications for shotgun certificates in Scotland is for 2001.In that year, in the Dumfries and Galloway police area, there were 1,495 applications—new and renewals—for shotgun certificates. Of these, six were refused.For Scotland as a whole, in 2001, there were 16,632 applications for shotgun certificates, of which 61 were refused.Full details are published in the Scottish Executive's statistical bulletin CrJ/2002/4, Firearm Certificates Statistics, Scotland, 2001.