Violent crime has fallen to its lowest level for 30 years and firearms offences are down for the eighth year in a row.
Most gun crime takes place in London, Manchester and the West Midlands, the Crime Survey of England and Wales said.
Murders are at their lowest for almost a quarter of a century. Black men are almost six times more likely to be a victim of homicide than white, and are more likely to have been killed in a shooting than whites and Asians.
Despite the overall fall in violence, levels of domestic abuse have remained broadly stable at 2 million offences annually for the past four years.
About one in 12 people believe sexual assault and rape victims are to blame if