Bermuda is on track to notch up its first year without a gun murder in more than a decade, it was revealed yesterday.Wayne Caines, the Minister of National Security, told the House of Assembly yesterday the island had recorded no gun deaths to date, with only 16 days of the year left.There were three gun killings last year and the same number in 2017.Police recorded five gun killings in 2016, one in 2015, two in 2014, three in 2013, five in both 2012 and 2011, seven in 2010 and four in 2009. Mr Caines told MPs that firearms offences were down by more than half this year, 57 per cent, compared with three years ago. There have been 35 firearms incidents this year, compared to 36 last year, 47 in 2017 and 82 the year before. There was just one firearms injury this year, compared to two last year, six in 2017 and nine in 2016.A 64-year-old man was shot in the shoulder in the Cashew City Road area of St George’s on October 3. A total of 29 people were injured by firearms in 2010. Mr Caines told MPs that the overall crime rate had also been cut. He said: “Firearms incidents are down. Robberies are down. Antisocial behaviour is down. I stand here today to thank all of the agencies and persons who continue to work to make Bermuda safe.” The minister highlighted the work of the Bermuda Police Service. Mr Caines said: “I recognise the job you have is not an easy one. “I can see the fruits of your labour, especially when you put victims of crime first.” Mr Caines also thanked the Inter-Agency Gang Taskforce, the Inter-Agency Gang Enforcement Team, and the Gang Violence Reduction Team for their efforts. He praised members of the public “too numerous to name” who had also pitched in to help stem the tide of violent crime on the island. Mr Caines said: “I recognise the key role played by each of these organisations and individuals.” A total of 2,977 crimes have been recorded this year up to Tuesday, compared to 3,576 crimes in 2016.There were 635 crimes against the person, which includes murder, manslaughter and serious assaults, logged this year.There were 740 crimes in the category — more than 100 up on this year — in 2016.Mr Caines said a steep fall in the number of robberies had contributed to the total crime rates.There have been 37 robberies so far this year compared to 81 in 2016.But crimes against the community, which include firearms offences, disorder offences and antisocial behaviour, went up compared to three years ago. Mr Caines said there had been 462 offences this year, up from 408 in 2016. He explained there had been an increase in antisocial behaviour offences — up this year to 325 offences from 286 in 2016. But Mr Caines said that it was important to highlight that there had been 398 incidents of antisocial behaviour last year. He added: “The Commissioner of Police and his senior team, based on that statistic and other factors, decided to create a Tactical Operations Division which was led by one of his superintendents to address antisocial behaviour and gang violence, with the support of other agencies such as the Inter-Agency Gang Enforcement Team and the Inter-Agency Community Response and other agencies working together.”Mr Caines also told MPs that house burglaries dropped by 306 to 245 this year compared to 551 in 2016.He said there was a “considerable” increase in arrests by police this year compared to last year — up to 3,362 from 2,728, an increase of 634.Mr Caines explained that the increase was “largely due” to the introduction in February of an electronic tablet for frontline officers which had led to a “considerable increase” in arrests on warrants. But Mr Caines said that the Government and his ministry would “not rest on their laurels”. Mr Caines encouraged everyone to “enjoy themselves in a responsible manner” over the festive season.The news came after Commissioner of Police Stephen Corbishley signalled a “marked reduction” in violent crime. He said that the fall was due to “prevention, protecting people, good intelligence and good partnership”.But Mr Corbishley warned that more needed to be done. He said: “The work to be done, I think, is the social side — how do we get young men to realise that selling some bags of weed in the street is not the right way forward and it’s high risk? “There’s a lot of work being done by Government to do that, and I think that is the long road that will have most success.” MPs also heard that Redemption Farm, a government project to help steer at-risk people away from crime, had yielded its first harvest of vegetables last week.