§ Mr. Woolmer asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many indictable offences connected with firearms were committed in Scotland in 1980; and what number and percentage involved air weapons.
§ Mr. Rifkind:"Crimes" is the Scottish classification broadly equivalent to "indictable offences". There were 838 crimes involving the use of firearms in Scotland in 1980. Of these, 711–85 per cent.—involved the use of air weapons.
Mr. Woolmer asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many (a) fatal, (b) serious, and (c) slight injuries were caused by air weapons in 1980.
§ Mr. Rifkind:In crimes involving the use of air weapons in Scotland in 1980 the numbers of fatal, serious and slight injuries were nil, 36 and 154, respectively.
Mr. Woolmer asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many indictable offences were committed in Scotland by children and young people with air weapons in 1980 in the age categories (a) under 14 years, (b) under 16 years, (c) under 17 years, (d) under 18 years and (e) under 21 years.
§ Mr. Rifkind:"Crimes" is the Scottish classification broadly equivalent to "indictable offences". The information asked for is set out in the following table.
Number of crimes involving the use of air weapons, Scotland, 1980
Age of principal suspect
Number of crimes
Under 14 31 14—15 60 16 18 17 17 18 to 20 22 All ages under 21 148