asked Her Majesty's Government:
How many persons have died of injuries inflicted by handguns in each year since the passage of the Firearms Acts. [HL1196]
Available information is for England and Wales from 1997 to 2004-05 and for Scotland from 1997 to 2005-06.
Number of offences Year England and Wales Scotland 1997 39 5 1997-98 .. 5 1998-993 29 0 1999-00 42 0 2000-01 48 2 2001-024 59 0 2002-035 40 0 2003-046 35 0 2004-057 37 1 2005-068,9 .. 3 .. Data not available. 1 For England and Wales this refers to converted imitation handgun, reactivated handgun, converted air pistols, other handgun and unknown handgun. For Scotland this refers to pistols and revolvers. 2 Fatal injuries do not include offender suicide. 3 There was a change in counting rules for recorded crime on 1 April 1998 in England and Wales. 4 Figures for England and Wales may have been inflated by some police forces implementing the principles of the national crime recording standard before 1 April 2002. 5 The national crime recording standard was introduced on 1 April 2002 for England and Wales. Figures for some crime categories may have been inflated by this. 6 Figures may have been inflated for Scotland by some police forces implementing the principles of the Scottish crime recording standard before 1 April 2004. 7 The Scottish crime recording standard was introduced on 1 April 2004. Figures for some crime categories may have been inflated by this. 8 Data for England and Wales for 2005-06 will be available after publication on 25 January 2007. 9 In 2005-06 all Scottish forces agreed to try to identify weapons where possible. Figures should not be inflated by this.