Air Guns (Hansard, 27 May 2004)

§ Ms Abbott

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment has been made of

Offence description	Statute	Persons proceeded against	Persons found guilty	Persons sentenced	Absolute/ conditional discharge	Fine
Possession of air weapon with intent to endanger life	Firearms Act, 1968 Sec 16	32	3	3	—	—
Using air weapons or imitation air weapons to resist arrest	Firearms Act, 1968 Sec 17(1)	—	—	—	—	—
Possessing air weapon or imitation air weapon at time of committing or being arrested for an offence specified in schedule 1 of the Act	Firearms Act, 1968 Sec 17(2)	32	—	—	—	—
Possessing air weapon or imitation air weapon with intent to commit an indictable offence or resist arrest	Firearms Act, 1968 Sec 18(1)	11	1	1	—	—
Possessing of a air weapon or imitation air weapon with intent to cause fear of violence	Firearms Act, 1968 Sec 16A (as amended by Firearms (Amendment) Act 1994)	127	25	25	2	—
Possession of air weapon by persons previously convicted of crime	Firearms Act 1968 Section 21 (4) as amended by the Criminal Justice & Public Act 1994, Sec 157 Sch. 8 part III.	57	35	36	9	8
Supplying air weapon to person denied them under Section 21	Ibid Section 21(5) as amended by the Criminal Justice & Public Order Act 1994, Sec 157 Sch. 8 part III.	—	—	—	—	—
Carrying loaded air weapon in public place etc.	Ibid Section 19	186	137	137	41	45
Trespassing with air weapon in a building	Ibid Section 20(1)	2	1	1	1	—
Trespassing with air weapon on land	Ibid Section 20(2)	32	23	23	8	12
Person under 17 acquiring air weapon	Ibid Section 22(1).	—	—	—	—	—
Person under 14 having with him an air weapon or ammunition therefor	Ibid Section 22(4)	7	5	5	1	—
Person under 17 having with him an air weapon in a public place	Ibid Section 22(5)	51	41	41	14	5
Person under 14 making improper use of air weapon when under supervision	Ibid Section 23(1)	1	—	—	—	—
Person supervising person under 14, permitting improper use of air weapon	Ibid Section 23(1).	—	—	—	—	—
Selling or letting on hire an air weapon to person under 17	Ibid Section 24(1)	—	—	—	—	—
Supplying air weapon to person under 14	Ibid Section 24(4)	2	2	2	1	1
Supplying air weapon to person drunk or insane	Ibid Section 25	—	—	—	—	—
Failure to hand over air weapon or ammunition or demand by constable	Ibid Section 47(2)	—	—	—	—	—
Total		540	273	274	77	71

1764W

the level of enforcement of penalties in cases of air gun misuse. [175541]

§ Caroline Flint

The information given in the table relates to persons who were proceeded against at magistrates courts in 2002 for offences under the Firearms Acts where an air weapon was involved and relates to the principal offence for which they were prosecuted. It is not possible to identify from the statistics of court proceedings collected centrally other offences where an air weapon is used in the commission of a crime. Comparative statistics on court proceedings for 2003 will not be available until the autumn.

1765W

Offence description	Statute	Average fine amount (£)	Community penalty	Immediate custody	Average custodial sentence length (months)	Otherwise dealt with
Possession of air weapon with intent to endanger life	Firearms Act, 1968 Sec 16	—	2	1	6.0	—
Using air weapons or imitation air weapons to resist arrest	Firearms Act, 1968 Sec 17(1)	—	—	—	—	—
Possessing air weapon or imitation air weapon at time of committing or being arrested for an offence specified in schedule 1 of the Act	Firearms Act, 1968 Sec 17(2)	—	—	—	—	—
Possessing air weapon or imitation air weapon with intent to commit an indictable offence or resist arrest	Firearms Act, 1968 Sec 18(1)	—	—	—	—	1
Possessing of a air weapon or imitation air weapon with intent to cause fear of violence	Firearms Act, 1968 Sec 16A (as amended by Firearms (Amendment) Act 1994)	—	16	7	15.3	—
Possession of air weapon by persons previously convicted of crime	Firearms Act 1968 Section 21 (4) as amended by the Criminal Justice & Public Act 1994, Sec 157 Sch. 8 part III.	138	12	5	7.0	2
Supplying air weapon to person denied them under Section 21	Ibid Section 21(5) as amended by the Criminal Justice & Public Order Act 1994, Sec 157 Sch. 8 part III.	—	—	—	—	—
Carrying loaded air weapon in public place etc.	Ibid Section 19	96	47	3	2.3	1
Trespassing with air weapon in a building	Ibid Section 20(1)	—	—	—	—	—
Trespassing with air weapon on land	Ibid Section 20(2)	112	2	1	4.0	—
Person under 17 acquiring air weapon	Ibid Section 22(1).	—	—	—	—	—
Person under 14 having with him an air weapon or ammunition therefor	Ibid Section 22(4)	—	4	—	—	—
Person under 17 having with him an air weapon in a public place	Ibid Section 22(5)	49	21	—	—	1
Person under 14 making improper use of air weapon when under supervision	Ibid Section 23(1)	—	—	—	—	—
Person supervising person under 14, permitting improper use of air weapon	Ibid Section 23(1).	—	—	—	—	—
Selling or letting on hire an air weapon to person under 17	Ibid Section 24(1)	—	—	—	—	—
Supplying air weapon to person under 14	Ibid Section 24(4)	300	—	—	—	—
Supplying air weapon to person drunk or insane	Ibid Section 25	—	—	—	—	—
Failure to hand over air weapon or ammunition or demand by constable	Ibid Section 47(2)	—	—	—	—	—
Total		103	104	17	9.4	5