"Figure 1: Rises in recorded firearm offences over the last five years following long-term falls","" "Offences recorded by the police in which firearms were reported to have been used, England and Wales, year ending March 2003 to year ending March 2019","" "","" "Notes","1. Police recorded crime data are not designated as National Statistics 2. More explicit guidelines for the classification of weapons introduced on 1 April 2004 may have increased the recording of firearm offences, particularly those committed by imitation weapons. 3. Further weapon breakdowns were available for the first time on 1 April 2004. 4. The Violent Crime Reduction Act, introduced in October 2007, made it illegal to import firearms and tightened the rules for the manufacture and sale of certain types of weapons. 5. Imitation firearm includes weapons such as BB guns and soft air weapons, which can fire small plastic pellets at low velocity." "Unit","Number of offences" "","" "Principal weapon ","All firearms","Air weapons","Non-air weapons" "Apr 02 to Mar 03","24070","13822","10248" "Apr 03 to Mar 04","24094","13756","10338" "Apr 04 to Mar 05","22893","11824","11069" "Apr 05 to Mar 06","21526","10438","11088" "Apr 06 to Mar 07","18481","8836","9645" "Apr 07 to Mar 08","17343","7478","9865" "Apr 08 to Mar 09","14240","6041","8199" "Apr 09 to Mar 10","13013","4931","8082" "Apr 10 to Mar 11","11335","4295","7040" "Apr 11 to Mar 12","9532","3510","6022" "Apr 12 to Mar 13","8135","2977","5158" "Apr 13 to Mar 14","7729","2873","4856" "Apr 14 to Mar 15","7865","2954","4911" "Apr 15 to Mar 16","8399","3217","5182" "Apr 16 to Mar 17","9578","3203","6375" "Apr 17 to Mar 18","9395","2861","6534" "Apr 18 to Mar 19","9787","3028","6759"