§ Mr. BurnsTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many individuals in each of the last three years have been(a) arrested for and (b) convicted of wounding with a legally held handgun. [144575]
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeArrests data held centrally and information collected on the Home Office court proceedings database do not identify the type of weapon used for violent offences.
Information taken from the data collection "Recorded crime in which firearms were reported to have been used or misappropriated" show that in 1999–2000 there were a total of 352 notifiable offences recorded by the police in which a handgun had been reported to have caused an injury (whether fired, used as a blunt instrument or in a threat). Figures for 1998–99 and 1997–98 are 239 and 317 respectively. The totals for injuries include fatalities. Information is not available as to whether the handgun was legally held or not.