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 three 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 2008-09, the police recorded 949 offences in which a firearm was alleged to have been used, a decrease of 17 per cent from the total of 1,144 recorded in 2007-08. 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 5.13-5.17).
• The largest category of offence involving the use of a firearm in 2008-09 was 'reckless conduct with firearms', which constituted 24 per cent of all recorded firearms offences. Previous increases in this category since 2005-06 were mainly due to a change in recording practices (see Annex 5.15), which saw the inclusion of incidents involving air weapons where no injury or 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 was also partly due to a clarification of the counting rules. (See Annex 5.13-5.17).
• In 2008-09 there were two homicides involving the use of a firearm, a decrease from four the previous year. The number of attempted murders decreased from 33 in 2007-08 to 23 in 2008-09. The number of recorded serious assaults fell from 37 in 2007-08 to 16 in 2008-09. The number of robberies increased by 40 per cent from 65 to 91, in 2008-09.
• When offences involving air weapons and unidentified weapons are excluded the number of offences fell from 462 in 2007-08 to 420 in 2008-09.
• 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 'Firearms Act 1968 offences' and '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 2008-09; 2.0 per cent of recorded homicides (two offences), 3.2 per cent of recorded attempted murders (23 offences), and 3.1 per cent of recorded robberies (91 offences). Less than 0.4 per cent of recorded serious assaults (16 offences), recorded minor assaults (142 offences) and recorded vandalism offences (127 offences) involved the alleged use of a firearm.

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

• There have been changes in the way the type of main firearm used has been recorded, 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 is likely that this increased the number of recorded offences involving air weapons.
• The number of offences involving unidentified weapons decreased from 106 in 2007-08 to 85 in 2008-09. This represents 9 per cent of all offences involving firearms in 2008-09.
• Air weapons accounted for 47 per cent of all offences involving firearms in 2008-09, compared to 50 per cent in 2007-08.
• Although many 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 except air weapons above pre-2005-06 levels.
• In comparison to 2007-08, the number of offences involving the alleged use of a pistol/revolver was up 41 per cent from 97 to 137, in 2008-09. There was an increase in the use of shotguns, from 41 in 2007-08 to 55 in 2008-09.
• Other firearms were used in 14 per cent of recorded offences in 2008-09. 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 - Offences in which a firearm was alleged to have been used as a percentage of all offences recorded for selected offences, 1999-00 to 2008-09

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

• In 2008-09, one out of two recorded homicides that involved the alleged use of a firearm involved an unidentified weapon. The remaining homicide involved a pistol/revolver.
• In 2008-09, the firearm could not be identified in four of the 23 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 six.
• In 2008-09, air weapons were used in 110 of the 127 offences (87 per cent) of vandalism involving firearms. An air weapon was also the weapon used in 66 per cent (152) of offences of reckless conduct with firearms, 42 per cent (59) of minor assaults, and 44 per cent (7) of serious assaults.

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

• Of the 949 offences involving the use of a firearm in 2008-09, 567 (60 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 212 in 2007-08 to 138 in 2008-09, down by 35 per cent.
• The number of cases in which a firearm was fired causing neither injury nor damage to property decreased from 286 in 2007-08 to 220 in 2008-09. Property damage resulting from the discharge of a firearm fell 6 per cent from 223 in 2007-08 to 209 in 2008-09.
• The number of offences where the firearm was used to threaten decreased 12 per cent from 266 in 2007-08 to 233 in 2008-09, while the number of other uses also decreased from 147 in 2007-08 to 137 in 2008-09. However, this is still substantially more than were recorded in 2005-06 (78); 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).

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

• Of the 567 offences in which a firearm was actually fired, 64 per cent (362) involved the use of an air weapon. Of the offences involving an air weapon, zero resulted in death, 67 resulted in non-fatal injury to a person and 156 resulted in damage to property.
• Where the main firearm used was unidentified, one offence resulted in fatal injury and 10 offences caused non-fatal injury.
• In the majority of cases that involved a pistol/revolver (75 per cent), the firearm was used to threaten.

Chart 3 - Offences Involving a Firearm: Result of Use, 2008-09

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

• Of the 142 minor assaults involving a firearm, 76 involved the weapon being fired and causing injury. This represents over half (56 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 10 out of 16 cases (63 per cent).
• Of the 91 robberies, a firearm was used to threaten in 85 (93 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 216 offences of reckless conduct with firearms in which the weapon was fired, 137 (63 per cent) of them resulted in no injury or damage to property.

Location of use ( Table 8 and Chart 4)

• In 2008-09, 322 offences involving the alleged use of a firearm occurred in a dwelling, compared to 386 offences in 2007-08. This accounted for 34 per cent of the total offences in each year.
• There was a decrease (21 per cent) in recorded offences occurring on public highways (including roads and footpaths), from 416 in 2007-08 to 329 in 2008-09. This figure remained 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.
• Twenty three offences involving the alleged use of a firearm occurred in a school/college, an increase of 35 per cent from 2007-08 when there were 17 offences.

Victim characteristics ( Table 10)

• Of the 138 main victims injured in recorded offences in which a firearm was fired in 2008-09, 102 (74 per cent) were male and 36 (26 per cent) were female. There were no reported offences in which police officers were shot causing injury (see Annex 5.8).
• In 2008-09, 25 (18 per cent) of main victims were aged between 11 and 15 years and 21 victims (15 per cent) were aged 10 years or under. Seventy six (55 per cent) were aged 21 or over.

Chart 4 - Recorded Crimes and Offences Involving a Firearm: Location of Use, 2008-09

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

Clear - up rates ( Table 11)

• In 2008-09, 59 per cent of all offences in which a firearm was alleged to have been used were cleared up, a decrease from 64 per cent in 2007-08 which was the highest recorded in the 10 year period covered by this bulletin.
• The clear-up rate for attempted murder was down from 58 per cent in 2007-08 to 52 per cent in 2008-09, while the clear-up rate for serious assault with firearms decreased from 54 per cent in 2007-08 to 44 per cent in 2008-09.
• Due to the nature of the offence, clear-up rates for vandalism have historically been low. In 2008-09, the clear-up rate was 10 per cent, down from 13 per cent in 2007-08.

Accused characteristics ( Table 12, 12A)

• The total number of offences cleared up, in which there was an accused, decreased by 24 per cent from 734 in 2007-08 to 560 in 2008-09.
• The number of offences cleared up in 2008-09 where the main accused was aged 15 years or under was 98, representing 18 per cent of offences cleared up. The main accused was aged 16 to 20 years in 125 cases (22 per cent), and was aged 21 or over in 337 (60 per cent) of these cases.
• Fifty-two per cent (51) of firearm offences involving young persons aged 15 or under related to the use of an air weapon, rising to 57 per cent (71) for those aged 16 to 20 and falling to 36 per cent (121) 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 2008, accounted for 47 per cent (445) of all offences in which a firearm was alleged to have been used in 2008-09. This is a decrease from 52 per cent the previous year.
• More specifically, one of the two homicides, 48 per cent (11) of attempted murders, 63 per cent (10) of serious assaults, 82 per cent (75) of recorded robberies, and 50 per cent (71) of minor assaults in which a firearm was alleged to have been used, took place in Strathclyde. Eighty-three 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 2008-09 the Scottish police recorded nine offences in which a firearm other than an air weapon was stolen, a decrease from 25 offences in 2007-08.
• The number of incidents where shotguns were stolen fell from six in 2007-08 to three in 2008-09. Rifles were stolen in two incidents in 2008-09, compared to nine in 2007-08.

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 10 per cent from 863 in 2007-08 to 774 in 2008-09. (see Annex 5.2)