British handgun murders up since 1996 ban
In 1997, the British government implemented a total ban on the private possession of handguns. Despite the subsequent surrender of 200,000 privately owned pistols and revolvers, Home Office figures tabled in the House of Lords by Under-Secretary of State, Steven Bassam, show that handgun related crime in England and Wales grew by almost 30% in 1999/00 compared to 1998/99. Additionally, Metropolitan Police Service data published in June 2001 indicates that gun related murders in London tripled in the first half of the year compared to 2000.(1)
Notifiable offenses recorded by police in which handguns were reported to have been used by offence group (England and Wales)
| Year | All offences | Homicide (Year ending March) |
Attempted Murder (and other acts endangering life including wounding) |
Other | Robbery | Burglary | Other offenses (excluding criminal damage) |
Criminal damage |
| 1990 | 2,537 | 22 | 114 | 58 | 2,233 | 56 | 47 | 7 |
| 1991 | 3,430 | 19 | 199 | 75 | 2,988 | 76 | 50 | 23 |
| 1992 | 3,997 | 28 | 193 | 90 | 3,544 | 78 | 47 | 17 |
| 1993 | 4,202 | 35 | 270 | 88 | 3,605 | 114 | 67 | 23 |
| 1994 | 2,981 | 25 | 267 | 82 | 2,390 | 134 | 72 | 11 |
| 1995 | 3,118 | 39 | 230 | 150 | 2,478 | 120 | 79 | 22 |
| 1996 | 2,956 | 30 | 235 | 157 | 2,316 | 116 | 80 | 22 |
| 1997 | 2,648 | 39 | 249 | 234 | 1,854 | 161 | 95 | 16 |
| 98/99 | 2,687 | 32 | 310 | 261 | 1,814 | 150 | 103 | 17 |
| 99/00 | 3,685 | 42 | 310 | 407 | 2,561 | 204 | 142 | 19 |
| (Source: Figures adapted from Hansard, 15th January 2001 – www.parliment.the-stationery-office.co.uk Note - there was a change in counting made for recorded crime on 1 April 1998. Figures before that date cannot be directly compared) |
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According to recent analysis carried out by the King’s College London Centre for Defence Studies, in 1999-2000 handguns were used in 65.2% of all firearm-related robberies in Britain, representing the highest level of handgun use in the period covered by the report (1985 to 199/00). The study noted ‘If the 1997 legislation is to be justified as an effective tool in the fight against the criminal use of handguns we would expect this percentage to be much lower.’(2)
The Centre for Defence Studies conclusions are in line with findings published in 2000 by the University of North Carolina following a comprehensive review of the national Incident-Based Reporting System. The report noted that ‘After estimating several models with a broad array of outcome measures and independent variables, we found virtually no evidence that legitimate gun availability influenced the violent crime rate or crimes committed with a gun…Rather, our results show the primacy of illegal gun availability in predicting the violent crime rate. Illegal gun availability is the only variable that shows consistent, nontrivial affects across all models estimated.’(3)
The British experience clearly shows that prohibiting the possession of handguns by licensed owners is largely ineffective in reducing the criminal misuse of firearms. A view shared by the Australian Institute of Criminology which acknowledges that ‘individuals who have circumvented legislation….will be least likely to be effected if further restrictions on firearms ownership are introduced.’(4)
References
(1) (2001, June 13). Australian Associated Press.
(2) (July, 2001). Illegal Firearms in the United Kingdom: Executive Summary. King’s College London Centre for Defence Studies, p.5.
(3) Stoberberg, L. and D’Alessio, J. (2000). Gun availability and violent crime. New evidence from the National Incident-based Reporting System. University of North Carolina Press.
(4) Mouzos, J (2000). The Licensing and Registration Status of Firearms Used in Homicide, Trends & Issues in Crime Control & Criminal Justice, No. 151. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology. p.5.
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