More than 33,000 shotguns are covered by certificates in the Dyfed-Powys Police force area, research has revealed, with the area having the highest number of shotguns per head of population in the UK.
Security experts at Get Licensed have looked into firearm offence rates, firearm certificate holders, certificate revocations and rejections as well as certification expenditure to create the UK Firearm Report, compiling the data for regions across the country.
In Dyfed-Powys, 33,826 shotguns were covered by certificates as of 31 March this year, the data shows.
It puts Dyfed-Powys at 6,557 shotguns per 100,000 people – the highest of any police area in the UK.
There have been 33.1 offences involving firearms per 100,000 people recorded over the past decade in Dyfed-Powys, while findings also show that there are 7.71 firearms dealers per 100,000 people in the area.
Despite the high level of shotgun ownership and certificates granted, around 2.71 per cent of firearm applications were rejected in 2022/23, the data shows.
62 firearm certificates were revoked in the police area between April 2022 and March 2023.
The area's population spends around £175,319 on renewing and applying for shotgun and firearm certificates.