Information on possession of a firearm is contained in the following table. Statistics for 2007 will be published in the autumn.
In such instances as a robbery or violent assault where an individual has used a firearm or other offensive weapon then they will principally be sentenced for the more serious transgression, and the figures for such more serious offences do not isolate the specific use of a firearm in such circumstances.
Number of offenders Offence codes Type of sentence 8103 8104 8117 8126 8127 8129 8230 8235 8136 8137 8170 8171 Total 2002 Total sentenced 195 101 789 48 14 2 1 59 10 36 _ _ 1,255 Custodial sentence 51 4 176 28 3 — — 29 4 5 — — 300 Non-custodial sentence3 144 97 613 20 11 2 1 30 6 31 — — 955 2003 Total sentenced 232 74 903 72 8 — — 69 9 35 — — 1,402 Custodial sentence 91 5 216 32 5 — — 31 1 6 — — 387 Non-custodial sentence3 141 69 687 40 3 38 8 29 — — 1,015 2004 Total sentenced 217 55 746 157 37 5 — 83 7 33 314 2 1,656 Custodial sentence 85 7 252 23 10 2 — 46 3 6 27 1 462 Non-custodial sentence3 132 48 494 134 27 3 — 37 4 27 257 1 1,164 2005 Total sentenced 206 53 389 218 33 3 — 93 6 37 700 — 1,738 Custodial sentence 54 9 242 23 6 1 — 47 . 10 75 — 467 Non-custodial sentence3 152 44 147 195 27 2 — 46 6 27 625 — 1,271 2006 Total sentenced 210 67 280 144 21 3 — 63 4 33 767 2 1,594 Custodial sentence 67 7 212 19 4 2 — 36 1 9 88 — 445 Non-custodial sentence3 143 60 68 125 17 1 — 27 3 24 679 2 1,149 1 Principal offence basis. 2 Possession of a firearm includes the offences of: 8 81/03 possessing firearm without certificate: 81/04 possessing shotgun without certificate; 81/17 possessing or distributing prohibited weapons; 81/26 carrying firearm in a public place 81/27 carrying loaded firearm in a public place; 81/29 trespassing with firearm in a building (Group I); 81/30 trespassing with firearm in a building (Group II); 81/35 possession firearm by person previously convicted of crime (Group I); 81/36 possession firearm by person previously convicted of crime (Group II); 81/37 possession firearm by person previously convicted of crime (Group III); 81/70 possessing weapon designed for discharge of noxious liquid; 81/71 possessing firearm disguised as other object. 3 Non-custodial sentences include absolute and conditional discharge, fine, community sentence, suspended sentence and otherwise dealt with. Note: These figures have been drawn from administrative data systems. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system. Source: RDS-NOMS, Ministry of Justice