HL Deb 13 January 1997 vol 577 cc10-1WA
Lord Windlesham

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What are the annual statistics over the most recently available 12-month period for the number of (i) homicides, (ii) other gun-related deaths, and (iii) non-fatal injuries to the person, resulting from the misuse of firearms in (a) England, Wales, and Scotland, (b) Australia, and (c) the United States of America, expressed both as the total number of incidents and as the number per head of population.

The Minister of State, Home Office (Baroness Blatch):

The following table gives the information requested for Great Britain for 1995. While statistics for Australia and the United States of America are not the responsibility of Her Majesty's Government, figures for homicide and other gun-related deaths are included which were gathered by the Canadian Department of Justice in 1995 and published as A Review of Firearms Statistics and Regulations in Selected Countries. Information on non-fatal injuries in the United States of America from Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics, published by the United States Department of Justice, has also been included.

Firearms-related death and injuries, Great Britain, Australia and the United States
Great Britain Australia United States of America
Homicide
Number 81 64 16,704
Rate per 100,000 population 0.14 0.36 6.42
Other gun-related deaths1
Number 178 453 19,967
Rate per 100,000 population 0.35 2.55 7.68
Non fatal injuries to the person2
All weapons excluding air weapons
Number 605 n/a 58,485
Rate per 100,000 population 1.06 22.50
Air Weapons
Number 1,761 n/a n/a
Rate per 100,000 population 3.09
1Accidents and suicides. (Figures for Great Britain supplied by the Office for National Statistics and the General Register Office for Scotland);
2Great Britain figures are for recorded crimes in which injury was reported to have been caused by a firearm. Figures for the USA include only those where hospital treatment was sought and exclude air weapons, etc.