New low, but one in 12 households still has gun

THE number of firearms in circulation is at an all-time low, but there are still 180,000 legally-owned guns in Scotland - one for every 12 households.

Official figures from the Scottish Executive showed that there were 60,000 firearms and 120,000 shotguns legally owned in Scotland.

This is the lowest number of firearms officially in circulation in Scotland since records began, largely as a result of the handgun ban brought in after the Dunblane massacre, when Thomas Hamilton murdered 16 primary school pupils and their teacher in March 1996.

Pat Greenhill, an anti-gun campaigner and Dunblane councillor, said the reduction would be welcomed by the whole community.

She added: "There was considerable support locally in the wake of what we suffered here to try to reduce the number of firearms that were in circulation, so this has to be good news. I hope this trend continues because it has to be to everyone’s benefit that there are less guns out there to fall into the wrong hands."

Legislation was introduced banning handguns in the wake of the massacre in the Dunblane Primary School gym hall.

An amnesty to allow the handing in of high-calibre handguns took place between July and September 1997, with a similar hand-in period for smaller weapons in February 1998.

This amnesty, as well as the requirement that gun permits are renewed regularly, has increased the accuracy of the statistics and reduced the number of guns in circulation.

Executive figures also show that the amount of gun crime in Scotland has decreased .

The latest available statistics, for the year 2000, showed that there were 938 offences in which a firearm was used - the lowest level since records began and 9 per cent down on the previous year.