§ Mr. William Rossasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many legally held firearms have been stolen in Northern Ireland in each year for which figures are available since 1968; how many in each year were stolen from civilians, Regular Army, Ulster Defence Regiment, Royal Ulster Constabulary, Royal Ulster Constabulary Reserve and Ulster Special Constabulary,
692W
Legally held weapons stolen in Northern Ireland 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 *1982 Total Royal Ulster Constabulary/Royal Ulster Constabulary Reserve/ Special Constabulary 1 1 1 49 19 29 33 22 12 14 9 1 11 9 211 Ulster Defence Regiment 1 1 2 210 49 8 242 23 12 4 10 3 7 5 577 Army 7 1 15 33 16 13 7 7 6 4 4 2 1 14 130 (h) of the table on the basis of an assumption of a 6.5 per cent. increase in prices between November 1981 and November 1982.
§ Mr. Newton[pursuant to his reply, 23 November 1982, c. 444]: The information, based on the actual rate of inflation, is as follows:
respectively; in each case how many firearms were (a) handguns, (b) shotguns, (c) rifles; (i) of .22 calibre and (ii) larger bore, (d) sub machine guns and (e) others; and how many in each category have been recovered to date.
§ Mr. John PattenInformation on the numbers and types of legally held weapons stolen in Northern Ireland during the period 1 January 1969 to 17 December 1982 is given in the following tables. The additional information requested is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
693W
1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 *1982 Total Private 56 71 75 394 395 201 251 247 88 52 57 45 100 85 2,117 Totals 65 74 93 686 479 251 533 299 118 74 80 51 119 113 3,035 Breakdown of weapons stolen Bullet Firing 36 32 61 472 312 121 342 101 45 35 33 12 29 47 1,678 Shotguns 24 29 28 175 135 114 172 169 54 33 41 32 69 55 1,130 Air weapons/miscellaneous† 5 13 4 39 32 16 19 29 19 6 6 7 21 11 227 Totals 65 74 93 686 479 251 533 299 118 74 80 51 119 113 3,035 Notes: * 1 January to 17 December 1982. † Miscellaneous includes blank firing, muzzle loading and antique weapons.