§ Mr. ClappisonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many offences involving(a) airguns, (b) handguns and (c) shotguns were committed in the period (i) 12 months prior to the imposition of the ban on the ownership of handguns and (ii) 12 months following the imposition of the ban. [56175]
§ Mr. MichaelThe readily available information relates to the period nine months before and nine months after the prohibition of the larger calibre handguns (those in excess of. 22 calibre) on 1 July 1997. (All handguns were prohibited from 1 February 1998.)
543 notifiable offences were recorded by the police in which shotguns were reported to have been used in the period 1 October 1996 to 30 June 1997, and 420 in the period 1 July 1997 to 31 March 1998.
The figures for handguns were 2,200 and 1,951 respectively.
Similar information is not available centrally for air weapon offences, as only annual returns are made by police forces.