To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many pellet and air guns were sold in each year since 1990, broken down by region; how many crime incidents involved an air or pellet gun in each year since 1990; and if he will make a statement.

Information on the number of firearms sold, including pellet and air guns are not collected centrally.

The number of crimes recorded by the police in England and Wales in which air weapons were reported to have been used since 1990, are given in the table.

⁽¹⁰⁾ There was a change of counting rules for recorded crime on 1 April 1998, which would have the tendency to increase the number of offences counted. Numbers of offences before and after this date are therefore not directly comparable.

⁽¹¹⁾ Figures may have been inflated by some forces implementing the principles of the National Crime Recording Standard (NCRS) before 1 April 2002.

The Government is not prepared to tolerate the misuse of air weapons and we are introducing new controls which will raise from 14 to 17 the age at which they may be acquired and possessed without adult supervision. We are also creating a new arrestable offence of carrying an air weapon in a public place without lawful authority or reasonable excuse.