The drop in the number of serious firearms offences in West Yorkshire, against the national trend and for the second year running, deserves a guarded welcome. Certainly any fall in the use of guns in recorded crime is good news. It is something the Telegraph & Argus has been working towards with the Stamp Out Gun Crime campaign and we are pleased to note that the statistics are moving in the right direction.

There have been far too many firearms used by criminals in Bradford in recent years, much of the shooting appearing to be connected with drugs "turf wars". Too many people have died, and continue to die. The fall of about a fifth in the number of serious crimes in West Yorkshire involving guns reduces the chances of innocent passers-by becoming involved in these incidents, but with 269 of them recorded (down from 333 in the previous year) there is still a long way to go.

It is particularly worrying that the national trend is upwards. There is no room for complacency over the West Yorkshire figures given the number of guns which remain in circulation across the country. Nor can any comfort be taken from the figures for violent crime in general, which are above average across the Bradford district.

The rise to 2,145 in the total number of firearms incidents recorded in the county, the majority of them of criminal damage involving air guns, suggests that the laws governing the use of these potentially lethal weapons need tightening up and strictly enforcing along with the continuing crackdown on the use of other firearms.