§ Mr. William RossTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if the RUC firearms database is linked into the National Firearms Database established under Section 39 of the Firearms (Amendment) Act 1997. [105819]
§ Mr. Ingram[holding answer 18 January 2000]: The following table shows the number of legally held handguns stolen from private individuals, the Armed Forces, the Police and Prison Officers in each of the last 10 years.
Year Private individuals Armed Forces Police Officers Prison Officers 1990 0 6 15 4 1991 8 5 12 2 1992 3 5 3 1 1993 7 1 5 0 1994 12 6 14 0 1995 7 2 6 0 1996 7 4 6 1 1997 11 1 2 0 1998 16 2 6 0 1999 7 1 1 1 Totals 78 33 70 9 During this period one rifle was stolen from a police officer.
The Chief Constable has advised that the information in relation to the calibres of these firearms is not easily accessible and obtaining it would incur disproportionate cost.