QUARTERLY UPDATE

The Home Office produces Quarterly Updates on Crime in England and Wales.  These include data on firearms offences (excluding airguns).

For "A Guide to and Review of Home Office Gun Crime Statistics" see Hales (2006)

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The latest Quarterly Update was published in October 2009 but contains few details on Gun Crime.  In the Year to September 2009 there were a provisional 8170 offences involving firearms (excluding airguns), indicating a 5% decrease from the previous year.

A more detailed Quarterly Update was published in July 2009, but the data have been updated and are included in the Annual Report published in January 2010.  The following summary takes those updates into account.  In the Year to March 2009 there were 8208 firearm offences (excluding airguns) compared with 9865 offences in 2007/08, a decrease of 17 percent.

Handguns were used in 4275 offences, an increase of 2 per cent from 2007/08

Shotguns were used in 619 offences, an increase of 3 per cent from 2007/08

Imitation weapons were used in 1511 offences, a decrease of 41 per cent from 2007/08

There were a total of 1763 crimes in which firearms were reported to have caused injury, a 37 percent fewer than in 2007/08.  Firearms caused 39 Fatal Injuries, 14 fewer than in the previous year.  There were 289 offences in which a gun was fired and which resulted in Serious Injury (a 20 percent decrease) and 1053 which resulted in Slight Injury.  Firearms were used as a Blunt Instrument in 382 offences.  Nearly four fifths of firearm offences involved no physical injury, although there were 5,155 instances in which they were used to Threaten (one percent higher than in 2007/08).

 

Weapon type

Year to

March 2008

 Year to

March 2009
% change
       
Shotgun  

602
619
+3
Handgun
4172
4275
+2
Imitation
2562
1511
-41

Rifle

      71

     89

     +25

Unidentified

  1325

              963

       28

Other firearm

   1133

    761

      -33

Total

9865

8208

-17

Other includes CS gas, disguised firearms, machine guns, pepper spray, stun guns and other specified weapons (majority are paintball guns)

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> See Quarterly Update to September 2009 - January 2010 - Statistical Bulletin 02/10

> See Quarterly Update to June 2009 - October 2009 - Statistical Bulletin 15/09

> See Quarterly Update to March 2009 - July 2009 - Statistical Bulletin 11/09 vol.1

> See Quarterly Update to December 2008 - April 2009 - Statistical Bulletin 06/09

> See Quarterly Update to September 2008 - January 2009 - Statistical Bulletin 01/09

> See Quarterly Update to June 2008 - October 2008

> See Crime in England and Wales 2007/08 - July 2008 - Statistical Bulletin 07/08

 

> See the Annual Statistics for England and Wales

 

 

 

FACTS ABOUT GUNS

Terminology

Facts about Guns

How Britain Compares with Other Countries

Firearms and Suicide

Gun Deaths and Injuries in the UK