§ Mr. Andrew TurnerTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many crimes were(a) reported and (b) cleared up involving (i) licensed handguns, (ii) unlicensed handguns, (iii) licensed shotguns, (iv) unlicensed shotguns and (v) other firearms in each year since 1997. [30209]
§ Mr. DenhamThe overall numbers of offences committed using handguns, shotguns and other firearms, over the period in question are as follows.
Numbers of firearms offences—England and Wales Handguns Shotguns 1Other firearms 1997–98 2,636 565 1,702 1998–992 2,687 642 1,880 1999–2000 3,685 693 2,465 2000–01 4,019 607 2,736 1 'Other firearms' includes imitation and unidentified firearms, and rifles. 2 There was a change in counting rules for recorded crime on 1 April 1998, which expanded the offences covered, and placed a greater emphasis on counting crimes in terms of numbers of victims. Numbers of recorded crimes after this date are therefore not directly comparable with previous years.