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Produced by the Sentencing Academy

Possession of a Firearm

Snapshot 18

Bringing together relevant statistics and trends relating to sentencing

by Annalena Wolcke

Published: 28 Jul 2025
Last updated: Jul 2025

Overview

  • Possession:
    • Sentencing Council guideline range: discharge to a 10-year prison sentence1
    • Maximum sentence: 10-years’ imprisonment
  • Possession with intent to endanger life:
    • Sentencing Council guideline range: 4-year to a 22-year prison sentence
    • Maximum sentence: life imprisonment
  • Convictions decreased over the last 10 years, from over 1,600 convictions in 2016 to 1,100 convictions in 2024
  • This snapshot summarises key trends over the past 5 years

Sentences Imposed

Figure 1: Sentences for Firearm Possession, 2020-2024

  • 42% of convictions resulted in a term of immediate imprisonment.2
  • A further 16% resulted in a suspended sentence order, community order, and fine each.3

Figure 2: Sentences Imposed for Firearm Possession, 2020-2024

  • Immediate custody rates for the possession of a firearm increased over the last 5 years.

Immediate Prison Sentence Lengths

Figure 3: Prison Sentence Lengths, Firearm Possession, 2020–2024

  • The most frequent sentence range is between 1 to 5 years, accounting for almost 60% of all immediate custodial sentences.
  • Approximately 23% of prison sentences are over 5 years.

Sentencing Outcomes by Sex

Figure 4: Sentencing Outcomes by Sex, Firearm Possession, 2020-2024

  • Female (n=346); Male (n=5,910)
  • Between 2020-2024, the custody rate for firearm possession was higher for men (43%) than for women (18%).

These rates do not account for various factors that influence sentencing decisions, such as the offender’s criminal history and the seriousness of the specific offence. Additional research would be needed to determine whether gender affected the sentence imposed.

This Snapshot is one of a series on sentencing trends in England & Wales. Others can be found here. For further information, contact Annalena Wolcke at a.wolcke@sentencingacademy.org.uk

  1. Offences include: possession of firearms offences (indictable only); possession of firearms offences (triable either way) ↩︎
  2. Data source for these and all other figures below: Criminal Justice Statistics Quarterly December 2024, published 15th of May 2025. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-justice-system-statistics-quarterly-december-2024 ↩︎
  3. ‘Other sanctions’ include: absolute discharge, and the category ‘otherwise dealt with’ ↩︎