HC Deb 26 June 1995 vol 262 cc475-6W
Mr. William Ross

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list the number of(a) firearms certificates held in Northern Ireland, (b) shotguns held on such certificates, (c) handguns held on such certificates, indicating how many are held by present or past members of the security forces, (d) .22 rimfire rifles held on such certificates, (e) sporting rifles held on such certificates of a calibre larger than .22 rimfire, (f) specialist target shooting rifles held on such certificates and (g) other rifles used for target shooting held on such firearms certificates. [29659]

Sir John Wheeler

As at 1 June 1995, there were 88,089 current firearms certificates. The following firearms were held under them:

  • Shotguns: 85,024
  • Pistols and Revolvers: 13,020'
  • .22 Rimfire Rifles: 11,225
  • Greater than .22 calibre Sporting Rifles: 402
  • Specialist Target Shooting Rifles: 1,537
  • Other Rifles2: 283

Notes:

1Information on how many of these handguns are held by serving or former members of the RUC and armed forces could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

2Includes miscellaneous target shooting rifles, other than .22 and .303 calibre.

Mr. William Ross

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list the number of terrorist-related incidents in which firearms were used, the number of other crimes in which firearms were used and the types of firearms used with particular reference to(a) handguns, (b) assault rifles, (c) sub-machine guns and (d) other rifle types and shotguns in each of the last five years for which figures are available. [29657]

Sir John Wheeler

The available information is given:

Shooting incidents where terrorist involvement has been established
Year Number of incidents
1990 559
1991 499
1992 506
1993 476
1994 348

Armed robberies (including robberies where the impression of a firearm was given)
Year Number of armed robberies
1990 492
1991 607
1992 739
1993 643
1994 555

Note:

The overwhelming majority of these robberies were terrorist related.

Number of crimes recorded in which firearms (including re plica firearms) were used (1990–94 inclusive)
Type of firearm 990 1991 1992 1993 1994
Handgun 676 757 958 847 671
Shotgun 86 67 109 60 64
Rifle 86 131 121 129 72
Machine gun 22 19 20 14 41
Other not specified firearm 120 80 25 33 54
Two or more firearms 50 46 60 68 22
Explosive device and firearm(s) 8 13 13 7 8
Total number of crimes 1,048 1,113 1,306 1,158 932

Notes:

1. Explosive device includes bombs, drogue bombs and rocket launchers.

2. Recorded crime data are not collated so as to permit the extraction of non-terrorist crime, except at disproportionate cost.

3. Crime records are not collated so as to allow the disaggregation of weapon categories to show the number of crimes where assault rifles and other types of rifle have been used.

4. In a number of incidents, two or more firearms will have been used. In such cases the incident has been recorded under one firearm category only.

Mr. William Ross

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many legally held firearms have been identified as having been used by those entitled to hold them in the commission of(a) terrorist-related crime and (b) other crimes in Northern Ireland in each of the last five years for which figures are readily available. [29658]

Sir John Wheeler

This information is not available in the form requested and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.