Newsgroups: talk.politics.misc
From: [an 25970] at [anon.penet.fi]
Subject: Armed Crime Figures - UK
Date: Tue,  5 Jul 1994 02:59:55 UTC

Given David Morning's assertion that armed crime in Scotland was "way
down" and that this was entirely due to the Firearms (Amendment) Act of
1988 but that he still refuses to present any actual figures nor
references to support his claim, I thought it worthwhile to look for
myself.

We find the latest (June 93, don't get much more up-to-date than that)
government figures as follows:-

The Scottish Statistical Office Bulletin June 1993
=== ======== =========== ====== ========

Chart 1, page 1

Recorded Crimes and Offences Involving Fireamrs by Firearm Type (1)

1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992
==== ==== ==== ==== ==== ==== ==== ==== ==== ==== ====
 200  250  250  300  300  350  350  500  400  700  800

(1) excludes air guns since they are not affected by 1988 Act and have
    increased more with the others anyway
(2) figures approximate since chart is imprecise (but anyone who is so
    inclined can verify for themselves)

Which, to me, looks like a continuous increase. At no time is there a
decrease and, indeed, the incidence has more than doubled since the 1988
Firearms (Amendment) Act, you know, the one David holds responsible for
the non-existant decrease.

We also find the following breakdown of the usage of each firearm type.

Table 3, page 3

Crimes and Offences recorded by Police in which a firearm was alleged
to have been used by main firearm type [excluding air guns and
imitations]

        1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992
        ==== ==== ==== ==== ==== ==== ==== ==== ==== ==== ====

shotgun   98  120  137  129  157  142  139  170  160  238  254
rifle     24   11   13    8    6   17    9   22    6   11   11
pistol    47   43   23   28   11   24   13   15   25   63   39

Note that the use of rifles has fluctuated over the period, but that
the use of shotguns (upon which the 1988 Act placed greater
restrictions) has increased greatly. Where is the effect of the 1988
Act on the use of shotguns in armed crime, David? I can't see it. With
the exception of rifles which are used in a very small number of
crimes, none of these figures is "way down". The use of pistols has
decreased *slightly* over the period but since the 1988 Act placed no
addtional provisions on pistols, the decrease cannot be due to the 1988
Act.

Once again, I invite David to present something more than hot air in
support of his claims that "the guns laws work" because Scotland's guns
crimes are "way down". Can he do so, I wonder?

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