§ Lembit ÖpikTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people hold(a) a firearms certificate, (b) a shotgun certificate and (c) both of the above together; and if he will make a statement. [110037]
§ Mr. Bob AinsworthInformation in the form requested is not kept centrally. However, available statistics show that on 31 December 2001, the latest date for which figures are available, there were 119,560 firearm certificates on issue covering 301,000 firearms and 577,171 shot gun certificates covering 1,307,576 shot guns.
This represents a decrease of five per cent. for firearm certificates and four per cent. for shot gun certificates compared with 31 December 2000.
There is no record of how many people hold both firearm and shot gun certificates but many will do so.