Sometimes, listening to politicians, police and the media, it can sound as if there is a gun-toting criminal on every street corner. The truth is far more nuanced. Serious gun crime is concentrated in particular parts of England and Wales; internationally, the country has a low death rate from guns compared with EU states such as France and Finland.

Where is gun crime prevalent?

Fifty-five per cent of firearms offences in England and Wales for 2005-06 were in three areas: London (35 per cent), Greater Manchester (11 per cent) and West Midlands (9 per cent).

In that period there were 52 firearms offences for every 100,000 population in London, 47 in Greater Manchester, 37 in the West Midlands, 35 in Merseyside and 27 in Nottinghamshire.

In Kent the figure was 9 per 100,000 population, Sussex 6, Surrey 8 and Hampshire 5.

Are all parts of the community in those areas at equal risk?

It does not seem so. In London 75 per cent of victims of murders by firearms and other shootings come from the African-Caribbean community. From the same community come 79 per cent of all suspects in gun crimes in the capital. But such crime does not affect only the black communities.

Why has the killing of Rhys Jones attracted so much publicity ?

Precisely because it so rare for a firearms murder to occur and even rarer for it to involve a child. Nor did it occur in the classic inner city deprived area or outside a nightclub but on a private housing estate.

What are the figures?

Provisional statistics show that firearms murders rose by 18 per cent, from 49 to 58, between 2005-06 and 2006-07. They represent a small proportion of the overall number of homicides in England and Wales, which was 766 in 2005-06.

Firearms murders have never gone over the 100 figure in the past eight years, although they did reach a peak of 95 in 2001-02 before starting to decline.

Men are overwhelmingly the victims of gun crime murders, with 39 killed in 2005-06 compared with 11 women. We do not know how many of the deaths were from criminals attacking other criminals.

Are there other figures to worry about?

Yes, but it is a complicated picture. The latest figures show that there was a 13 per cent fall in firearms offences, excluding air weapons, from 11,084 in 2005-06 to 9,608 in 2006-07.

The figure for last year was the lowest recorded since 2000-01. When air weapons are included the overall number of firearms offences doubles.

Put in perspective, firearms, including air weapons, were used in 1 in every 250 crimes in 2005-06. For offences excluding air weapons the ratio was 1 in 500.

Although there has been a drop in firearms offences, the overall trend in England and Wales and other industrialised societies is upward.

In 1989-99 the number of firearms offences, excluding those with air weapons, in England and Wales was about 4,500. They rose steadily to about 10,000 in 2001-02.

Injuries resulting from firearms offences more than doubled from 2,378 to 5,001 between 1998-09 and 2005-06.

But firearms offences resulting in serious injury fell by 13 per cent to 413 in 2006-07.

What kind of weapons are used ?

Not all firearms offences involve a real weapon. Imitations were used in 2,493 of the 9,608 crimes last year.

Handguns are by far the most popular weapon and were used in 4,671 offences, yet were fired in only 14 per cent of cases. However, in a third of the crimes in which they were fired the victim was killed or seriously injured.

Are there particular crimes in which weapons are used?

Robbery is a favourite of the gun-wielding offender. The highest number of firearms robberies took place on the street, followed by those in shops. Street robberies involving a firearm increased by 10 per cent to 1,439 in 2005-06 and by 17 per cent to 1,036 in shops.

One reason for these increases may be that youngsters in particular carry iPods and similar gadgets on the streets.

Criminals also choose shops as easy targets because banks and building societies have installed security measures. Bank and post office robberies have fallen by 65 per cent since 2001-02.

How many illegal weapons are there?

The Government has no estimate, although it is clear that they are easy to obtain and becoming cheaper. Guns can even be hired for an hour or an evening. Shotguns can be bought for £50 to £200 and handguns previously used in crime for about £150 to £200. An imitation firearm can cost as little as £20.

Where are they coming from?

Some come from recent conflict zones, including Northern Ireland and the Balkans. Others are coming from East European states that joined the European Union in 2004. There are suggestions that “battlefield trophies” are brought in by soldiers and that firearms may be imported with illegal drugs or through the post.

Are drugs the key link to firearms?

It certainly looks that way. Because the drugs market is illegal, those involved in it must have weapons to protect themselves, to defend their drugs territories and markets and to enforce debts.

Research on gun crime carried out for the Home Office suggested that “illegal drugs markets represent the single most important theme in relation to the use of illegal firearms”.

Any other links?

Unfortunately, yes. The research linked guns to the ascendancy of criminal role models, often regarded as untouchable in parts of the country where there is a thriving criminal economy, and to the culture of gang membership.

Why does the membership of a gang involve guns?

Often a gang is involved in long-standing rivalry based on post codes, shopping centres or particular estates. The rivalry has even spilled into nightclubs, where groups confront each other and then defend their reputations – sometimes with guns. Other disputes relate to status or showing someone “dis” – disrespect.

What are police and government doing?

A total of 3,151 people were convicted of firearms offences in 2005 – just a thousand more than in 2001. Police have held campaigns on gun crime but they need community support.

Semi-automatic weapons were banned in 1988 and handguns in 1998. A five-year mandatory minimum term for possessing an illegal firearm came into force in 2004 and in May of this year it was extended to include 18-to 20-year-olds.

Later this year the Government will ban the sale, manufacture and importation of realistic imitation firearms.

Aren’t knives a bigger issue than guns ?

They are more available and are the most common method of killing in England and Wales. You are about four times more likely to be killed with a knife than with a gun.

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