1. Introduction
This bulletin presents information for the years 1996 to 2005 on the issue of firearm and shot gun certificates under the Firearms Act 1968 (as amended). Fife Constabulary has been unable to supply figures for 2005, except for figures relating to firearms dealers, and in all other cases 2004 data for Fife is used. (see Note 2 in the Annex). Statistics on the number of crimes and offences involving the alleged use of a firearm in 2004-05 were published in the Scottish Executive statistical bulletin, "Recorded Crimes and Offences Involving Firearms, Scotland, 2004-05" in October 2005. The corresponding figures for 2005-06 will be published in a bulletin later in the year.
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. Further information is given in the Notes in the Annex.
Chart 1 Firearm and shot gun certificates on issue at 31 December, Scotland, 1996-2005 (1)
(1) Fife police were unable to suppy data for 2005. Fife data from 2004 is used instead.