Study into the market in and use of illegal firearms

The Research, Development and Statistics Department of the Home Office has published a detailed research study and a findings report on the market in and use of illegal firearms.

The research study is based on in-depth interviews with 80 imprisoned and recently convicted male Firearms Act offenders aged 18 to 30, focussing on London, Greater Manchester, Nottinghamshire and the West Midlands.

Findings from the study reveal that the offenders:

• Sourced firearms from illegal importation, ‘leakage’ from legitimate sources (e.g. burgled shotguns) and the conversion of widely-available imitation firearms.
• Found the availability of purpose-made ammunition to be relatively scarce and tended to rely on improvised or illegally manufactured ammunition.
• Criminal contacts were pre-eminent in determining firearm availability. At least 12 of the interviewees mentioned the existence of specialist criminal ‘armourers’.
• Circulated illegal firearms, particularly within gangs and other collectives.

It found that the illegal drug markets underpin the criminal economy and represent the most important theme in relation to the illegal use of firearms. Firearms possession was reported in relation to robberies of drug dealers, territorial disputes, personal protection and sanctioning of drug market participants.

The two documents, Findings 279 Gun crime: the market in and use of illegal firearms and Home Office Research Study 298 Gun crime: the market in and use of illegal firearms can be found at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pubsintro1.html