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Firearms: Crime

Volume 457: debated on Monday 5 March 2007

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were victims of (a) fatal and (b) non-fatal shootings in each year between 1997 and 2006, broken down by ethnic group. (122389)

The ethnicity of gun crime victims has been collected since April 2004 only. The number of shootings resulting in (a) fatal and (b) serious/slight injuries in 2004-05 and 2005-06, by ethnicity of victim, is provided in the following table:

Crimes recorded by the police in which weapons (including air weapons) were reported to have been fired and caused injury, England and Wales, 2004-05 and 2005-06

2004-05

2005-06

Victim ethnicity

Fatal injury

Serious1 or slight injury

Fatal injury

Serious1 or slight injury

Asian or Asian British

7

203

4

220

Black or Black British

25

334

19

351

Chinese or other

1

80

1

119

Mixed

0

83

1

79

White

40

3,569

18

2,952

Not recorded

5

342

7

265

Total

78

4,611

50

3,986

1 A serious injury is one which necessitated detention in hospital or involved fractures, concussion, severe general shock, penetration by a bullet or multiple shot wounds. Note: These figures may not agree with those presented in the homicide chapter of “Homicides, Firearm Offences and Intimate Violence 2005/06” (HOSB 02/07) because the homicide figures are compiled at a later date and take into account the results of court proceedings.