Firearms Certificate Statistics, Scotland, 2013

3. Commentary

It should be noted that amendments to firearm regulations in January 1995 increased the validity period of firearm and shotgun certificates from three to five years. This effectively meant that there were no certificate renewals in either 1998 or 1999 and this in turn has had a cyclical effect of increasing the number of certificate renewals, cancellations and certificates on issue in certain years, whilst reducing the number in the intervening years.

The statistics on firearm certificates are used to inform National Outcome 9 - 'we live our lives safe from crime, disorder and danger' as well as The Strategy for Justice in Scotland. These statistics are also used by a wide range of stakeholders to monitor trends, for policy research and development, and for research purposes.

Having consulted with users via ScotStat, and there being no objections, it was intended that this bulletin would be the first to present statistics on the number of firearm and shotgun certificates on issue under the Firearms Act 1968 (as amended) on a financial year basis. It was envisaged that this bulletin would cover the five year calendar period from 2004 to 2008 as well as the five year financial period from 2008-09 to 2012-13.

Prior to consulting with users on moving to presenting the data on a financial year basis, discussions were had with the Police Service of Scotland, hereafter referred to as Police Scotland throughout this bulletin. Police Scotland confirmed that it would be possible to provide the data on a financial year basis for the five year period requested.

However, when Police Scotland tried to extract the data from the SHOGUN system, the firearms licensing system, it was discovered that data cannot be retrospectively extracted from the SHOGUN system. This is because the SHOGUN system is a live operational system and to obtain data as at a specific date, it has to be extracted on that date. As a result, it will not be possible to move to presenting the data on a financial year basis in this bulletin. The data presented in this bulletin are therefore for the calendar years 2004 to 2013.

The Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012 changed the policing landscape in Scotland, replacing the previous eight police forces, the Scottish Police Services Authority and the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency from 1 April 2013. Police Scotland is now responsible for operational policing in Scotland and is held to account by the Scottish Police Authority. The statistics set out in this bulletin cover the three months preceding and the nine months following the establishment of Police Scotland.

Following the establishment of Police Scotland, a national SHOGUN system has been developed. The national SHOGUN system is expected to become operational during the second half of 2014. Due to the nature of the SHOGUN system, once the national system is introduced it will only be possible to provide statistics on the number of firearm and shotgun certificates at a national level, with no regional or geographic breakdowns being available. As a consequence, the data in this bulletin are presented on a national level only.

In addition, the new system will only be able to recover statistics from the point of introduction onwards. The national SHOGUN system will have to be running for 12 months before complete statistics on the number of firearm and shotgun certificates will be available. In the interim period, the system will only be able to provide headline statistics on the number of firearm and shotgun certificates at a given time. This means that for the 2014-15 and 2015-16 bulletins, only headline statistics for the number of firearm and shotgun certificates will be available.

To facilitate moving to presenting the data on a financial year basis, the next bulletin will only cover the three month period from 1 January 2014 to 31 March 2014. It is therefore our intention to publish these data on a headline basis, in the same format as how we intend to present the 2014-15 and 2015-16 data. For further information on the data which will be available in these bulletins, please see Note 4.3.3.

3.1 Firearm Certificates (Tables 1, 2, 3 and 4, and Charts 1, 2, and 3)

• There were 26,020 firearm certificates on issue at the end of 2013, an increase of 1% from 2012. The number of firearm certificates on issue at the end of 2013 is higher than at the end of 2011 as well as 2012, but lower than the other years covered by this bulletin.

Chart 2: Number of firearm certificates on issue and number of firearms held on certificate in Scotland as at 31 December, 2004 to 2013

1. Due to a change in recording practices relating to sound moderators, there has been an increase of around 10,000 in the number of items held on firearm certificates. For further information please see Note 4.2.6.

• The number of items held on firearms certificate in 2013 was 84,358. However this increase from 72,005 the previous year, is largely due to a change in the recording practice in relation to sound moderators. For further information please see Note 4.2.6. Around 10,000 of the increase this year in the number of items held on firearm certificates is the result of two legacy police force areas now including sound moderators in the miscellaneous category. If this had not been the case, the number of items held on firearms certificate would have increased by approximately 3% since 2012. For further information on the number of items possessed on firearm certificates, please see Notes 4.2.8 and 4.2.9.
• Although the number of firearm certificates on issue has increased marginally in the last year, the figures have remained relatively stable over the ten year period covered by this bulletin with an overall slightly decreasing trend since 2004. In contrast, the number of items held on certificate has shown an increasing trend from 2004 to 2012, resulting in the average number of firearms held on each certificate rising from 2.3 in 2004 to 2.8 in 2012. Following the change in recording practice relating to sound moderators, the average number of items held on each certificate was 3.2 in 2013.
• In 2013, the number of firearm certificates on issue per head of population in Scotland was 488 per 100,000 population, an increase of four per 100,000 population compared to 2012. Despite the increase in the last year there are now 41 fewer firearm certificates on issue per 100,000 head of population than in 2004.

Chart 3: New firearm certificate applications (granted), cancellations and revocations in Scotland during the year ending 31 December, 2004 to 2013

• In 2013, there were 1,067 applications for a new firearm certificate, a decrease of 7% on the 1,149 applications in 2012. Of the total number of applications for a new firearm certificate in 2013, 1,059 were granted with eight applications, 1% of total applications, being refused.
• In 2013, there were 1,822 applications for the renewal of a firearm certificate, with three of those applications being refused.
• There were 741 firearm certificates cancelled and 21 certificates revoked in 2013, compared to 1,227 cancellations and 20 revocations in 2012. The number of new applications granted outnumbered the number of cancellations and revocations by 297, thus contributing to an increase in the overall number of firearm certificates on issue in Scotland, the first increase since 2008.
• The 26,020 firearm certificates on issue as at 31 December 2013 covered the possession of 84,358 items. In addition, the certificates on issue authorised a further 11,190 items to be purchased or acquired. For further information please see Note 4.2.9. It should be noted that due to a change in recording practices, there has been an increase in the number of items, including sound moderators, held on firearm certificates. For further information please see Note 4.2.6.
• Of the 64,269 items held on firearm certificates, where it was possible to distinguish the type of item, 69% were rifles. For further information on why it is not possible to distinguish the item type in all cases, please see Note 4.2.5.

3.2 Shotgun Certificates (Tables 5, 6 and 7, and Charts 1, 4 and 5)

• There were 48,779 shotgun certificates on issue at the end of 2013, an increase of 1% from 2012. The increase in shotgun certificates on issue is the first since 2009 and the number of shotgun certificates on issue is now at its highest level since 2010.
• The 48,779 shotgun certificates on issue at the end of 2013 covered the possession of 141,923 shotguns. This is an increase of less than half of 1% from the 141,569 shotguns held on certificate at the end of 2012 and the highest number over the last ten years. For further information on the number of weapons possessed on shotgun certificates, please see Notes 4.2.8 and 4.2.9
• Since 2004 there has been an increase of 10% in the number of shotguns held on certificate, while over the same period there has been a 7% decrease in the number of shotgun certificates on issue. As a result, the average number of shotguns held on each certificate issued has increased from 2.5 in 2004 to 2.9 in 2013.
• The number of shotgun certificates on issue in Scotland in 2013 per 100,000 population was 916. This is an increase of nine per 100,000 population compared to 2012, but lower than the per head of population figure for the other years covered by this bulletin.

Chart 4: Number of shotgun certificates on issue and number of shotguns held on certificate in Scotland as at 31 December, 2004 to 2013

• In 2013, there were 1,766 applications for a new shotgun certificate, of which 1,739 were granted and 27 were refused, 2% of the total number of new applications.
• There were 3,446 applications for a renewal of a shotgun certificate in 2013, with eight of those applications being refused.

Chart 5: New shotgun certificate applications (granted), cancellations and revocations in Scotland during the year ending 31 December, 2004 to 2013

• In 2013, a total of 1,100 shotgun certificates were cancelled, which accounted for 2% of all shotgun certificates from the previous year. There were 34 shotgun certificates revoked in 2013, a slight decrease on the 45 certificates revoked in 2012. The number of new applications granted outnumbered the number of cancellations and revocations by 605, thus contributing to the increase in the number of shotgun certificates on issue.

3.3 Firearm Dealers (Tables 8, 9 and 10)

• There were 350 registered firearm dealers in Scotland at the end of 2013, a decrease of 1% from the 353 registered dealers in 2012. Despite the decrease, this is still the second highest number of registered dealers in the ten year period covered by this bulletin.
• In 2013, there were 42 new applications granted for registration of firearm dealers, with 162 renewal of registration applications granted. There were no refusals for either new registration or renewal of registration applications, although 43 registrations were cancelled.
• The number of registered dealers per population has remained stable through the period from 2004 to 2013. In 2013, there were seven registered dealers per 100,000 population, the third year in a row this has been the case.

3.4 Visitor Permits (Table 11)

• In 2013, a total of 1,964 firearm applications for a Visitor Permit were submitted by EU and non-EU residents, a 3% decrease on the 2,021 applications submitted in 2012.
• In 2013, a total of 3,813 shotgun applications for a Visitor Permit were submitted by EU and non-EU residents. This is a 3% increase on the 3,701 applications submitted in 2012.

3.5 European Firearms Passes (Table 12)

• There were 1,349 European Firearms Passes (EFPs) on issue at the end of 2013, an increase of 9% on the 1,237 on issue at the end of 2012. Please note that the number of EFPs on issue in 2013 in the legacy Strathclyde Police force area is an undercount. For further information, please see Note 4.2.4.
• In 2013, a total of 138 new applications were issued for an EFP, with 48 renewals issued and 26 cancellations.

3.6 Article 7 Authorities (Table 13)

• There were no applications (granted) for Article 7 Authorities made by certificate holders or non-certificate holders in 2013. This is the fourth year in a row where there have been no applications (granted).