Firearms Certificate Statistics, Scotland, March 2014

Table 2: Firearm Certificates - number of items possessed on firearm certificates and number of additional items authorised to be purchased or acquired on firearm certificates in Scotland as at 31 March 2014

Notes:

1. Any smooth-bore gun which has a barrel of less than 24 inches in length, has a magazine which takes more than two cartridges or has a removable magazine.
2. Includes those items which were exempt from the Firearms (Amendment) (No. 2) Act 1997, e.g. single shot humane killers, shot pistols, trophies of war, antique firearms and 'handguns' used by the SSPCA.
3. A large part of the increase in the number of handguns compared to previous years is a result of harmonised recording practises resulting from the establishment of Police Scotland. Humane killers should be recorded as handguns but in previous returns some legacy force areas had not been recording them as such.
4. For further information on the types of air weapons that a firearm certificate is required for please see Note 5.4.3.
5. Includes items such as Section 5 firearms, tranquillising rifles, etc.
6. Due to a change in recording practices relating to sound moderators last year and again this year there has been increases in the number of miscellaneous items held on firearm certificates (+7,100) and the number of miscellaneous items authorised to be purchased (+1,500). For further information please see Note 5.2.6.
7. For technical reasons, within the legacy Tayside Police force area it is not possible to provide a breakdown of items held on firearm certificates.
8. For further information on the number of items possessed on firearm or shotgun certificates please see Notes 5.2.8 and 5.2.9.