Police in Fife and Tayside recorded 100 alleged offences involving firearms last year.
Figures released by the government on Tuesday show there were 56 apparent incidents recorded where guns were involved in Tayside and 44 in Fife during 2009-10.
There were no cases of homicide or attempted murder in either area, although this has now changed in Fife after the shooting in Glenrothes of Mohammed Nadeem Siddique (38).
Dundee West MSP Joe FitzPatrick said, “The figures for Tayside show that crimes, both alleged and identified, involving firearms have fallen by a third over the past year.
“Alleged incidents have fallen from 84 to 56 and identified incidents have fallen from 53 to 36, and I am pleased that the biggest drop has been in the most serious categories. Serious assaults involving firearms fell from three to none, robberies fell from four to two and minor assaults dropped from 23 to 17.”Air guns”However there is no room for complacency and although it is pleasing to see crimes involving firearms drop by a third, there are still too many incidents occurring. It is also a fact that a considerable proportion of these incidents involve air weapons.”
“The Scottish Government should have the powers over the licensing of these so that we can take stronger action to restrict the availability of air weapons.
He was pleased action is under way to transfer responsibility for air weapons to the Scottish Parliament.”
Conservative MSP for Mid-Scotland and Fife Murdo Fraser said it was fortunate more deaths had not occurred in Courier Country as a result of gun-carrying criminals.
“If someone has a firearm with them they may not mean to use it but it could go off in the heat of the moment and have fatal consequences,” he said.
Labour justice spokesman, MSP Richard Baker MSP said, “These figures, particularly for Tayside, show there can be no complacency with regards to firearms offences, and in Fife we have seen the very sad case of a man being murdered with a firearm.”
“That’s why it is important to redouble our efforts to stop people carrying firearms and make sure those caught offending are given strong sentences.”
Robberies were recorded by the new report as the most serious offences where a firearm was allegedly used in both regions, with two cases apiece in Tayside and Fife.
The most common alleged offence was reckless conduct with firearms, 19 cases in Tayside and 20 in Fife, but 17 minor assaults were also noted in Tayside, 12 in Fife.
Nationwide, the overall number of recorded offences involving firearms dropped by 12%, falling from 951 in 2008/9 to 839 in 2009-10.
Justice secretary Kenny MacAskill said the figures show Scotland is heading in the right direction when it comes to stamping out gun crime.”
He said, “The number of recorded offences involving firearms is now at a 30-year low, in line with wider recorded crime statistics that show our communities are better protected than ever before.”
However, he added, “It is worrying to see a rise in the number of offences in which a firearm killed or caused injury. There is still much more we can do to make our streets and communities safer and we will continue working with the police and others to make that happen.”