UWS Government Publications Blog

These statistics were published in October 2010.

“This bulletin is part of a series of bulletins produced by the Scottish Government on the criminal justice system. It covers those crimes and offences recorded by the police in which a firearm was alleged to have been used or where a firearm was stolen.

• In 2009-10, the Scottish police recorded 839 offences in which a firearm was alleged to have been used, a decrease of 12 per cent from the total number of recorded offences in 2008-09 (951). This is the lowest reported total for the 10 year period covered by this bulletin. ( Table 1)
• The number of attempted murders involving a firearm decreased by 52 per cent, from 23 in 2008-09 to 11 in 2009-10. The number of recorded serious assaults involving a firearm increased by 19 per cent between 2008-09 and 2009-10 (16 to 19 offences). ( Table 1)
• Ninety-five vandalism offences involving the alleged use of a firearm were recorded in 2009-10, falling by 26 per cent from 2008-09. The number of minor assaults involving a firearm increased by 15 per cent, from 142 in 2008-09 to 164 in 2009-10. The number of robberies involving the use of a firearm remained unchanged at 91 offences recorded in both 2008-09 and 2009-10. ( Table 1)
• There was a decrease in the number of offences of reckless conduct with a firearm, falling by 14 per cent from 227 in 2008-09 to 196 in 2009-10. The number of ‘other crimes and offences’ decreased by 12 per cent from 194 in 2008-09 to 171 in 2009-10. ( Table 1)
• The use of firearms in criminal activity continued to constitute only a small proportion of all offences recorded by the police in 2009-10; 2.5 per cent of recorded homicides (two offences), 2.0 per cent of recorded attempted murders (11 offences), and 3.6 per cent of recorded robberies (91 offences). In each of the remaining three categories, less than 0.5 per cent of offences involved the alleged use of a firearm. ( Table 2)
• Air weapons accounted for 51 per cent (426) of all offences involving the alleged use of a firearm in 2009-10, compared to 46 per cent (441) in 2008-09. ( Table 3)
• The number of offences in which a firearm was discharged and subsequently killed or caused personal injury, increased by 12 per cent from 137 in 2008-09 to 154 in 2009-10. ( Table 5)
• Of the 154 main victims who were injured during a recorded firearm offence in which a weapon was alleged to have been fired in 2009-10, 105 were male (68 per cent) and 49 were female (32 per cent). There were no reported offences in 2009-10 involving the shooting of a police officer causing injury. Forty-three main victims were aged between 11-15 years (28 per cent) and 25 victims were aged 10 years or under (16 per cent). ( Table 10)
• In 2009-10, 61 per cent of all offences in which a firearm was alleged to have been used were cleared up, an increase from 59 per cent in 2008-09 and the second highest clear-up rate recorded in the 10 year period covered by this bulletin. ( Table 11)
• The Strathclyde police force area, which contained 43 per cent of the estimated population of Scotland in 2009, accounted for 48 per cent (404) of all offences in which a firearm was alleged to have been used in 2009-10 (Source: General Register Office for Scotland, mid-year population estimates, Scotland). ( Table 13)
• There have been a number of changes in police recording practices since 2005-06, along with a clarification of the scope of the firearms return (see Annex 5.15 – 5.19). These changes should be taken into account when considering the above main points.”