FOI Ref: FOI/2021/2855
You asked
With regards to the ONS report titled "Offences involving the use of firearms: year ending March 2019", I am hoping you could provide me with two clarifications from the dataset, which was not immediately apparent in my first reading of the report.
- Could you list the number of firearms-related crimes, as listed under the total number of crimes, committed by legally registered firearms? i.e; where the firearm used was a registered and legally owned FAC Level 1 firearm.
- Could you also advise whether shootings carried out by Police forces are listed in the report? Or would that be reported elsewhere?
If you are unable to gather this information from your datasets; could you tell me where I would be able to source that information?
We said
Thank you for your Freedom of Information request pertaining to offences involving the use of firearms.
The ONS Centre for Crime and Justice publishes statistics primarily from two sources - the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) and police recorded crime.
The core statistics in the report "Offences involving the use of firearms: year ending March 2019" are all derived from police recorded crime data: Offences involving the use of firearms: year ending March 2019.
These are data supplied by the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales plus the British Transport Police, and cover crimes reported to and recorded by the police.
The figures in this report should therefore include shootings carried out by police forces if, and only if, those shootings have been recognised as constituting criminal offences. In the report, however, we have not provided any breakdown that isolates police as the offenders.
Similarly, the report does not split its figures by the legality, in terms of registration and ownership, of the firearms used.
The information you seek might nonetheless be available. Note that although the ONS publishes crime statistics from police recorded crime data, these data are collated and managed by the Home Office, not the ONS. The Home Office will therefore be better placed to assist you further with your request. They may be contacted here: CrimeandPoliceStats@homeoffice.gov.uk
If you have any further crime-related enquiries, the ONS Centre for Crime and Justice can be reached at the following e-mail address: CrimeStatistics@ons.gov.uk.