Sawn-off shotguns, stun guns and pistols: Two shootings a week on West Midlands streets
The shocking level of gun crime in the West Midlands was laid bare today.
A total of 111 shootings where someone was injured took place in just one year - more than two a week.
The region had the highest gun crime rate in the country, with a total of 540 firearms offences last year
Guns were used 285 times to threaten someone, 38 times where property was damaged, and six times as a blunt instrument.
Some 293 incidents involved types of handgun, and there were 53 with ball bearing guns
Sawn-off shotguns were used 21 times, along with long barrelled shotguns on 16 occasions
Stun guns were used 36 times, CS gas in 46 incidents, and pepper spray 19 times[/breakout]
Chief Constable Chris Sims said: "Gun crime is an emotive term. In the UK, where firearms are rarely used in crime, there is a considerable focus on cases when firearms are used.When the term gun crime is described there is perhaps a gap between what the gun crime figures record and the community perception."
He added: "There has been a considerable reduction in gun crime as per the Home Office category and in the use of lethal weapons in gang related or criminal violence.
"The level of public concern about gun crime has also reduced."
Figures have nearly halved in the West Midlands since 2007 to 2008 when there were 974 firearm incidents.
David Jamieson, the West Midlands police and crime commissioner, said the most important statistics were how many times weapons were fired and how many fatalities there were, not the current measure which records all incidents when a gun was suspected of being present.
The West Midlands also had the third highest knife crime rate after London and Greater Manchester.
Nationally, there was 4,801 gun crimes – a five per cent drop in the past 12 months.
