§ Mr. Willian RossTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list by police force the number of persons shot with illegal weapons in each of the last three years and the current year, indicating(a) how many persons were (i) killed and (ii) injured, (b) the type of firearm used, (c) the calibre of firearms used, (d) the number of persons made answerable to the courts in respect of such crimes and (e) the number of occasions the police have sent an armed response team to an incident. [4052]
§ Mr. McLeishThe following tables detail the number of persons (i) killed and (ii) injured with illegal weapons 365W in the years 1992–95 in Scotland. The figures relate only to cases in which both the accused and the weapon were identified; in other cases, it is not possible to say whether or not the weapon was legally certificated.
Since January 1994, Scottish police forces have despatched armed police officers to over 2,000 incidents where a firearm was reported or suspected. The number of these incidents where an illegal firearm was actually involved is not recorded. The remaining information is not collect centrally.
Number of persons killed by type of weapon, 1992 to 1995 Shotgun Rifle Pistol/revolver Total 1992 Grampian 2 — — 2 Strathclyde 3 — — 3 Total 5 — — 5 1993 Dumfries and Galloway — — 1 1 Strathclyde 1 — 2 3 Total 1 — 3 4 1994 Northern — 1 — 1 Lothian and Borders — — 1 1 Strathclyde 1 1 1 3 Total 1 2 2 5 1995 Tayside 1 — — 1 Total 1 — — 1 In addition, there were a number of fatalities in which the weapon was unidentified and therefore it could not be determined whether or not it was legally held or not. There were two such cases in 1994 and six in 1995.
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Number of persons injured by type of weapon, 1992 to 1995 Shotgun Rifle Pistol revolver Total 1992 Central 2 — — 2 Lothian and Borders 1 — — 1 Strathclyde 9 — 2 11 Tayside 2 3 — 5 Total 14 3 2 19 1993 Central 1 — — 1 Dumfries and Galloway — — 3 3 Strathclyde 10 — 2 12 Tayside 4 — — 4 Total 15 — 5 20 1994 Central — — 2 2 Fife 3 — — 3 Lothian and Borders — — 1 1 Strathclyde 4 — 1 5 Total 7 — 4 11
Number of persons injured by type of weapon, 1992 to 1995 Shotgun Rifle Pistol revolver Total 1995 Fife — — 2 2 Lothian and Borders 1 — 2 3 Strathclyde 4 — — 4 Total 5 — 4 9 In addition, there were a number of injuries in which a weapon was fired but unidentified and it was not therefore possible to determine whether the weapon was legally held or not. There was one such case in 1993, 11 in 1994 and 15 in 1995.