Firearm Certificate Statistics, Scotland, 2011

1. Introduction

This bulletin is part of a series of bulletins produced by the Scottish Government on the criminal justice system. It presents information on the number of firearm and shotgun certificates on issue under the Firearms Act 1968 (as amended), covering certificates issued by the eight Scottish police forces over the last ten years. The bulletin also provides information on the number of registered firearm dealers, visitor permits and European Firearm Passes (EFP) issued.

In this bulletin, statistics for shotguns are shown separately from other firearms. The definition of a firearm and of a shotgun are provided in the Annex, along with regulations covering firearms licensing and further background information on the data presented in this bulletin. A related publication provides statistics on the number of crimes and offences involving the alleged use of a firearm. The National Statistics bulletin Recorded Crimes and Offences Involving Firearms, Scotland, 2010-11, was last published in October 2011.

For both firearms and shotguns, the number of certificates on issue at the end of 2011 are now at their lowest levels in the ten year period covered by this bulletin (Chart 1).

Chart 1 Number of firearm and shotgun certificates on issue in Scotland as at 31 December, 2002-2011