Mr. Wm. Rossasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish in the Official Report a table showing over the last 10 years the number of times firearms were used in each year in armed robberies in Scotland; and the types of firearms used in each year under the headings of shotguns, sawn-off shotguns, handguns, rifles, sub-machine guns, air or 787W gas-powered weapons, guns which discharged gas or noxious liquid, other weapons and unidentified types.
§ Mr. Harry EwingThe table set out below gives the number of robberies in Scotland made known to the police in which firearms were used in 1976 and 1977 related to the type of weapon used. Information for earlier years is not available in the form requested.
ROBBERIES IN WHICH FIREARMS WERE USED Type of weapon 1976 1977* Sawn off shotgun 10 10 Long barrelled shotgun 14 23 Pistol or revolver 25 11 Rifle 4 1 Air weapon 22 19 Non-convertible starting gun 0 2 Imitation firearm 13 23 Firearm non seen 9 3 Other or unknown type of firearm 16 20 Total 113 112 * Provisional. Note: The above includes not only cases where the firearm was discharged but cases where the firearm was used as a threat.