This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Firearm Certificate Statistics 2005
25/05/2006
New figures published today show that there was a slight decrease in both the number of firearm certificates and the number of shotgun certificates on issue at the end of last year.
The annual firearm certificates statistical bulletin shows that there were 26,538 firearm certificates on issue at the end of 2005 - a decrease of 359 or one per cent on the previous year. There were 51,110 shot gun certificates on issue at December 31, 2005 - a decrease of 1,299 certificates or two per cent on the previous year.
Other main findings include:
- In 2005, there were 1,089 applications for new firearms certificates, a decrease of one per cent when compared with 2004. The number of cancellations rose by over 100 per cent, outnumbering new applications in 2005.
- In 2005, 6,266 firearm certificates were renewed, over seven times as many as in 2004 (see note three in Notes to Editors), and six renewal applications were refused.
- More than a quarter of all firearms certificates on issue were in the Northern police force area, while Grampian and Strathclyde jointly accounted for nearly a third of the total.
- The number of applications for a new shot gun certificate was 1,826 in 2005, up 30 per cent on the number recorded in 2004. There were, however, fewer successful applications in 2005 than the number of cancellations.
- There were 13,134 renewed shot gun certificates in 2005, over eight times as many as in 2004 (see note three in Notes to Editors). Eight renewal applications were refused.
- Strathclyde, Grampian and Northern police force areas jointly accounted for more than half of all shot gun certificates on issue at the end of 2005.
- The number of firearm and shot gun certificates on issue per head of population was highest in the Northern police force area and lowest in Strathclyde.
Apart from figures relating to firearms dealers used in tables six and seven, Fife Constabulary were unable to supply data for 2005. The delay in the compilation of firearms certificates for 2005 is due to software problems discovered following a change in the pattern of use of the Firearms Licensing System. There is currently a shortage of resources to remedy the problem, without affecting the scheduling of other Scottish Police Information Strategy (SPIS) projects. Updated data will be made available on the Scottish Executive website when the full data has been supplied. Use of 2004 data for Fife is not expected to have a significant effect on total numbers of certificates, but will impact on the numbers of renewals and cancellations, for the reasons given in Note three below.
Since 1997, various changes have been made to firearms legislation to enhance public safety.
Under the Firearms (Amendment) Act 1997 and Firearms (Amendment)(No.2) Act 1997, all pistols - otherwise referred to as handguns - were banned. The Firearms Amendment Act 1997 provided special exemptions from prohibition for slaughtering instruments, and certain firearms used at athletic meeting, for the humane killing of animals, trophies of war etc.
Since January 20, 2004, there has been a ban on the sale, manufacture and import of self contained gas cartridge (SCGC) airweapons. Individuals who held such weapons had until April 30 last year to surrender them to the police or apply for a licence. This has increased the number of airweapons possessed on certificate compared to previous years.
Changes in regulations regarding the length of time a firearm or shot gun certificate was valid for took effect from 1 January 1995, increasing the period of certification from three to five years. As this includes both applications for new certificates and renewals of existing certificates this effectively meant that no certificates required renewal in either 1998 or 1999. This had the knock-on effect of reducing numbers of renewals in 2003 and 2004, with numbers rising again in 2005. Numbers of cancellations are similarly affected.
This is a Scottish Executive National Statistics publication. National statistics are produced to high professional standards set out in the National Statistics Code of Practice. They undergo regular quality assurance reviews to ensure that they meet customer needs. They are produced free from any political interference.