Mr. Wm. Rossasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many shooting incidents there have been in Northern Ireland in each of the years since 1969 in which legally held weapons were used by their owners against the security forces.
1972 (from 1st August) 1973 1974 1975 (to 3rd Maach) Shotguns … … … 62 97 69 8 Rifles … … … … 243 370 313 17 Pistols-Revolvers … … 184 237 236 17 Machine Guns … … 25 35 33 — Rocket Launchers … … 3 7 4 — Mortars … … … 2 12 14 — Ammunition (rounds) … 73,355 68,067 62,269 2,811
Mr. Wm. Rossasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) how many rounds of .22 ammunition were sold in Northern Ireland in each of the last 10 years;
(2) how many shotgun cartridges were sold in Northern Ireland in each of the last 10 years;
(3) how much ammunition for bullet-firing weapons, other than .22, was sold in Northern Ireland in each of the last 10 years.
Mr. Wm. Rossasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many shotguns, rifles and handguns, respectively, were stolen in Northern Ireland in burglaries in each of the last 10 years.
§ Mr. MoyleThis information is not readily available and could not be obtained without disproportionate cost.
Mr. Wm. Rossasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many shooting incidents there have been in Northern Ireland in each of the following years—1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973 and 1974—in which the security forces were involved.
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§ Mr. Merlyn ReesIt is not possible to provide this information.
Mr. Wm. Rossasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many shotguns, rifles, automatic pistols, revolvers, submachine guns, other weapons, etc., and rounds of ammunition were recovered by the security forces from the IRA in Northern Ireland in each year since 1969.
§ Mr. Merlyn ReesRecords relating to particular organisations were not kept before 1st August 1972. Since then the figures are as follows:
§ Mr. Merlyn ReesRecords were not kept before 1970. The figures from that year are:
No. of Incidents 1970 67 1971 1,485 1972 7,669 1973 3,371 1974 1,904
Mr. Wm. Rossasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many shooting incidents there have been in Northern Ireland in each of the following years—1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973 and 1974—in which legally held weapons which were stolen have been used against the security forces.
§ Mr. Merlyn ReesStatistics are not available for years 1969 and 1970. In the period 1971–74, legally-held weapons stolen from their owners were identified as having been used on 16 occasions against the security forces.
Mr. Wm. Rossasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what estimate he has of the type and calibre of weapons most commonly used for assassination in Northern Ireland.
§ Mr. Merlyn ReesThe most common calibres are 9 millimetres, 0.38 inch and 0.45 inch.
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Mr. Wm. Rossasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many legally held rifles there are in Northern Ireland.