The figures taken by the Tories suggest that the fall in numbers of armed police officers have been the most severe in the hot spot areas. They add their drop in numbers causes the biggest rises in gun related offenses.
One example would be in Northamptonshire where gun offenses tripled in ten years. In response, the number of armed officers has dropped by a little over half. After the parliamentary questions, the Tories had obtained the figures of armed police.
In Merseyside, the number of authorized armed officers fell by 15% in nine years between 1997 and 2006. Between 2002 and 2006, the number of reported firearms related crimes increased by 62%.
Both Avon and Somerset saw a 62% percent rise in gun related crimes when the number of armed officers decreased from 165 to 117.
The overall figures say that the number of armed officers was 6,738 in 1997 and rose down to 6,584 in 2006. Reported crimes with firearms increased by 10%.