Fall in requests for gun licences

The number of applications for new firearms certificates, including handguns, fell by 15 per cent last year following the Dunblane massacre. According to figures published yesterday by the Scottish Office, police received 1,622 applications for licences during the whole of 1996.

The figures, in the Statistical Bulletin Firearms Certificates Statistics, also show 22 applications for a new firearms certificate were refused because of "unsuitability" or inadequate security arrangements for the weapons.