HL Deb 07 March 2005 vol 670 c63WA
Lord Monson

asked Her Majesty's Government:

How many gun crimes in England and Wales involved legally-held weapons in each of the past 20 years and what percentage they formed of all gun crimes, in each case excluding those crimes in which only air weapons were used. [HL1177]

Baroness Scotland of Asthal

From 1984–85 until 1996–97 these data were not collected centrally. In respect of 1997–98 to 2003–04 attempts were made to collect the data but there were concerns over the quality of these data and, as a result, they have not been published. Because of these concerns, and following consultation with the police service, this data item ceased to be collected centrally from 1 April 2004.