Scottish Government

3. Commentary

Crimes and offences recorded in which a firearm was alleged to have been used

Crime/offence type (Tables 1, 1A)

• As with the previous two publications, minor Firearms Act 1968 offences, mainly relating to possession, handling and distribution of weapons and ammunition, are no longer included in the main tables. Totals for these offences are presented in Table 15. (See Annex 5.2)

• In 2007-08, the police recorded 1,125 offences in which a firearm was alleged to have been used, a decrease of 11 per cent from the total of 1,261 recorded in 2006-07. It is thought that at least part of the previous increase in 2006-07 was due to a clarification in the scope of the firearms offences return (See Annex 5.15-5.17).
• The largest category of offence involving the use of a firearm in 2007-08 was 'reckless conduct with firearms', which constituted 26 per cent of all recorded firearms offences. The increase in this category since 2005-06 is mainly due to a change in recording practices (see Annex 5.15), which saw the inclusion of incidents involving air weapons where no injury of damage was caused. Such incidents were previously excluded from the figures. The large increase in the 'other crimes and offences' category in 2006-07 and 2007-08 is also partly due to a clarification of the counting rules. (See Annex 5.15-5.17).
• In 2007-08, the number of homicides involving the use of a firearm was 4, down from 8 in the previous three years. The number of attempted murders decreased by 23 per cent from 43 in 2006-07 to 33 in 2007-08. The number of recorded serious assaults rose from 19 in 2006-07 to 37 in 2007-08.

• The pattern of offences, once those involving unidentified firearms or air weapons are excluded, shows the largest single category of offences are 'other crimes and offences', followed by 'minor assault'. ( Table 1A)

Proportion of crimes/offences involving firearms ( Table 2 and Chart 2)

• The use of firearms in criminal activity constituted only a small proportion of all offences recorded by the police in 2007-08; 3 per cent of recorded homicides (4 offences), 5 per cent of recorded attempted murders (33 offences), and 2 per cent of recorded robberies (61 offences). Less than 0.6 per cent of recorded serious assaults (37 offences), recorded minor assaults (199 offences) and recorded vandalism offences (121 offences) involved the alleged use of a firearm.

Type of firearm ( Table 3, Table 3A and Chart 1)

• There have been various changes in the way the type of firearm has been recorded over the years, which impacts mainly on the numbers of air weapons and unidentified weapons recorded (see Annex 5.13). From 2005-06 onwards, all police forces agreed to identify weapons where possible, resulting in an increase in the alleged use of air weapons (and other identified weapons) and a decrease in the alleged use of unidentified firearms. Furthermore, from 2006-07, all forces were asked to include incidents involving air weapons where no injury or damage was caused. It was anticipated that this would increase the number of recorded offences involving air weapons.

• The number of unidentified weapons decreased from 175 in 2006-07 to 104 in 2007-08. This represents 9 per cent of all offences involving firearms in 2007-08.

• Air weapons accounted for 50 per cent of all offences involving firearms in 2007-08, compared to 54 per cent in 2006-07.

• Although the majority of firearms that might previously have been logged as 'unidentified' are now recorded as air weapons, the other categories of firearms would also be expected to increase as a result of the change in reporting practice. This proved to be the case, with all identified categories above pre-2005-06 levels.
• In comparison to 2006-07, the number of offences involving the alleged use of a pistol/revolver was up 24 per cent from 75 to 93, in 2007-08. There was a small decrease in the use of imitation firearms, from 118 in 2006-07 to 109 in 2007-08.
• Other firearms were used in 17 per cent of recorded offences in 2007-08. This category includes all other weapons covered by the Firearms Act 1968 not separately identified - such as starting guns, taser guns and pepper sprays.

Chart 2 - Crimes and offences recorded by the police in which a firearm was alleged to have been used as a percentage of all crimes and offences recorded for selected crimes, Scotland, 1998-99 to 2007-08

Crime/offence type by main firearm used ( Table 4)

• In 2007-08, 1 out of the 4 recorded homicides that involved the alleged use of a firearm involved an unidentified weapon. Of the remaining homicides, 1 each involved a shotgun, a pistol/revolver and an air weapon.
• In 2007-08, the firearm could not be identified in 7 of the 33 attempted murders. The highest recorded identified weapon was the shotgun, which was used in 10 attempted murders, followed by the pistol/revolver which was used in 9.
• In 2007-08 air weapons were used in 95 of the 121 offences (79 per cent) of vandalism involving firearms. An air weapon was also the weapon used in 72 per cent (206) of offences of reckless conduct with firearms, 44 per cent (88) of minor assaults, and 62 per cent (23) of serious assaults.

Result of the use of a firearm ( Table 5 and Chart 3)

• Of the 1,125 offences involving the use of a firearm in 2007-08, 709 (63 per cent) involved the actual discharge of the firearm.
• The number of offences in which a firearm was fired and killed or caused injury to a person decreased from 248 in 2006-07 to 211 in 2007-08, down by 15 per cent.
• The number of cases in which a firearm was fired causing neither injury nor damage to property increased from 233 in 2006-07 to 279 in 2007-08. Property damage resulting from the discharge of a firearm fell 30 per cent from 314 in 2006-07 to 219 in 2007-08, reflecting the large fall in vandalism seen in Table 1.
• The number of offences where the firearm was used to threaten decreased 19 per cent from 318 in 2006-07 to 259 in 2007-08, while the number of other uses also increased from 130 in 2006-07 to 147 in 2007-08. It is thought that the clarification in guidance to forces regarding which weapons to include in the firearms return may have impacted on these figures (see Annex 5.16-5.17) leading to the large rise from 78 offences in 2005-06.

Result of use of firearm by main firearm used ( Table 6)

• Of the 709 offences in which a firearm was actually fired, 62 per cent (442) involved the use of an air weapon. Of those offences involving an air weapon, 1 resulted in death, 92 resulted in non-fatal injury to a person and 154 resulted in damage to property.

• Where the main firearm used was unidentified, 1 offence resulted in fatal injuries while 11 offences caused non-fatal injury.

• In the majority of cases that involved a pistol/revolver (60 per cent) or an imitation weapon (53 per cent), the firearm was used to threaten.

Chart 3 - Recorded crimes and offences involving a firearm: Result of use, 2007-08

Crime/offence type by use of firearm ( Table 7)

• Of the 199 minor assaults involving a firearm, 109 involved the weapon being fired and causing injury. This represents over half (53 per cent) of all the recorded offences in which a firearm was fired and caused injury. In serious assaults involving a firearm, the firearm was fired and caused injury in 24 out of 37 cases (65 per cent).
• Of the 61 robberies, a firearm was used to threaten in 56 (92 per cent) offences, reflecting the nature of such crimes. In the majority of Firearms Act 1968 offences the firearm was used to threaten or for 'other uses'.
• Of the 276 offences of reckless conduct with firearms in which the weapon was fired, 160 (58 per cent) of them resulted in no injury or damage to property.

Location of use ( Table 8 and Chart 4)

• In 2007-08, 34 per cent of offences (377) involving the alleged use of a firearm occurred in a dwelling, compared to 30 per cent (378) of offences in 2006-07.
• There was small decrease (7 per cent) in recorded offences occurring on public highways (including roads and footpaths), from 439 in 2006-07 to 409 in 2007-08. This figure remained much higher than the 253 offences in 2005-06, this change was due mainly to an increase in recorded reckless conduct with a firearm and the rise in other offences.
• Seventeen offences involving the alleged use of a firearm occurred in a school/college, a decrease of 37 per cent from 2006-07 when there were 27 offences.

Victim characteristics ( Table 10)

• Of the 211 main victims injured in recorded offences in which a firearm was fired, 154 (73 per cent) were male and 56 (27 per cent) were female. There was 1 offence in which a police officer was shot causing injury.
• In 2007-08, just over a fifth, 46 (21 per cent), of main victims were aged between 11 and 15 years and 38 victims (18 per cent) were aged 10 years or under. One hundred and six (50 per cent) were aged 21 or over.

Chart 4 - Recorded crimes and offences involving a firearm: Location of use, 2007-08

Crimes and offences cleared up in which a firearm was alleged to have been used

Clear - up rates ( Table 11)

• In 2007-08, 64 per cent of all offences in which a firearm was alleged to have been used were cleared up, an increase from 58 per cent in 2006-07 and the highest recorded in the 10 year period covered by this bulletin. Part of the reason for this increased overall clear-up rate is the smaller number of vandalism offences, which historically have a low clear-up rate and the increased number of offences of reckless conduct and other offences, which have higher clear-up rates.
• The clear-up rate for offences of homicide with firearms was 50 per cent in 2007-08 compared to 100 per cent in 2006-07 (although these figures are based on very small numbers of homicides, namely 4 in 2007-08). The clear-up rate for attempted murder was up from 40 per cent in 2006-07 to 58 per cent in 2007-08, while the clear-up rate for serious assault with firearms increased from 47 per cent in 2006-07 to 54 per cent in 2007-08.
• Due to the nature of the offence, clear-up rates for vandalism have historically been low. In 2007-08 the clear-up rate was 13 per cent, up from 6 per cent in 2006-07.

Accused characteristics (Table 12, 12A)

• The total number of offences cleared up, in which there was an accused, decreased by 1 per cent from 727 in 2006-07 to 721 in 2007-08.
• The number of offences cleared up in 2007-08 where the main accused was aged 15 years or under was 175, representing 24 per cent of offences cleared up. The main accused was aged 16 - 20 years in 210 cases (29 per cent), and was 21 or over in 336 (47 per cent) of these cases.
• Forty-nine per cent (85) of firearm offences involving young persons aged 15 or under related to the use of an air weapon, rising to 70 per cent (146) for those aged 16-20 and falling to 40 per cent (133) for those accused aged 21 or over.

Analysis by police force area ( Table 13)

• The Strathclyde police force area, which contained 43 per cent of the estimated population in Scotland in 2007, accounted for 52 per cent (580) of all offences in which a firearm was alleged to have been used in 2007-08. This is small decrease from the previous year.
• More specifically, 3 of the 4 homicides, 91 per cent (30) of attempted murders, 59 per cent (22) of serious assaults, 85 per cent (52) of recorded robberies, and 46 per cent (91) of minor assaults in which a firearm was alleged to have been used, took place in Strathclyde. Over half (62 per cent) of the recorded vandalism offences involving a firearm took place in Lothian and Borders police force area.

Crimes and offences in which a firearm was stolen ( Table 14)

• During 2007-08 the Scottish police recorded 25 offences in which a firearm other than an air weapon was stolen, an increase from 10 offences in 2006-07.
• The number of incidents where shotguns were stolen rose from 1 in 2006-07 to 6 in 2007-08. Rifles were stolen in 9 incidents in 2007-08, compared to 1 in 2006-07.

Minor Firearms Act 1968 Offences ( Table 15)

• The number of minor Firearms Act 1968 offences, mainly relating to the possession, handling and distribution of weapons and ammunition, decreased by 9 per cent from 947 in 2006-07 to 863 in 2007-08. (see Annex 5.2)