Available data relate only to offences where firearms have been fired, used as a blunt instrument against a person or used as a threat. The number of firearm offences (excluding air weapons) recorded by the City of London and Metropolitan police between 1996 and 2005-06 is given in the tables. Data cannot be broken down by London borough. Police force area breakdowns for firearm offences recorded during 2006-07 will be published in a future supplementary volume to the recent ‘Crime in England and Wales 2006/2007’ Home Office Statistical Bulletin.
From the information collected on recorded crime it is not possible to identify those offences where knives or other offensive weapons were used, since details of the individual circumstances of offences are not recorded. From April 2007 police forces are providing data on knife-enabled grievous bodily harm and robbery offences.
Number of firearm offences 1996 1,741 1997 1,960 1997-98 1,951 1998-991 2,034 1999-2000 2,945 2000-01 3,036 2001-022 4,197 1 There was a change in the counting rules for recorded crime on 1 April 1998. 2 Figures for some crime categories may have been inflated by some police forces implementing the principles of the National Crime Recording Standard before 1 April 2002.
Number of firearm offences 2002-03 4,202 2003-04 3,891 2004-05 3,697 2005-06 3,884 1 Data in this table take account of the introduction of the National Crime Recording Standard in April 2002, which may have resulted in inflated figures for some crime categories. These figures are not directly comparable with those for earlier years. 2 Data for 2006-07 will be available in January 2008.