HC Deb 08 March 1982 vol 19 cc293-5W
Mr. William Ross

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many legally-held shotguns, rifles, handguns and air weapons have been stolen in Northern Ireland in each of the last 10 years; of these (a) how many have subsequently been recovered and (b) how many of

available from existing records and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. Details of total firearm certificate applications received and the number refused during the last 3 calendar years are as follows:

Year Received Refused
1979 4,389 267
1980 4,362 294
1981 3,639 360

Mr. William Ross

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many police officers and of which ranks, and how many civilian staff and of which grades, are employed at police headquarters on the processing of applications for, and renewal of, firearms certificates; what were the numbers in each case in each of the preceding four years; what are the present salaries for each grade and rank; what were the respective sums in each of the preceding four years; and what was the average paid to each grade and rank in overtime in those years.

Mr. John Patten

The information on staffing levels and average salaries as at 1 January 1982 and in each of the four preceding years is as follows:

those recovered have been returned to their owners; of the weapons stolen how many were weapons belonging to members of the Army, the Ulster Defence Regiment, the Royal Ulster Constabulary and the Royal Ulster Constabulary Reserve, respectively; and how many weapons so stolen have been identified as being used in (i) murders and (ii) attempted murders; and of the weapons so identified formerly how many belong to civilians or to the security forces.

Mr. John Patten

Information on the numbers and types of legally-held weapons stolen in Northern Ireland in the last 10 years is given in the following tables. The additional information requested cannot readily be made available from police records and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Legally Held Weapons Stolen in Northern Ireland
1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 Total
RUC/RUC 'R' 49 19 29 33 22 12 14 9 1 11 199
UDR 210 49 8 242 23 12 4 10 3 7 568
Army 33 16 13 7 7 6 4 4 2 1 93
Private 394 395 201 251 247 88 52 57 45 100 1,830
Totals 686 479 251 533 299 118 74 80 51 119 2,690
Breakdown of Weapons Stolen
Bullet Firing 472 312 121 342 101 45 35 33 12 29 1,502
Shotguns 175 135 114 172 169 54 33 41 32 69 994
Air Weapons/Miscellaneous 39 32 16 19 29 19 6 6 7 21 194
Totals 686 479 251 533 299 118 74 80 51 119 2,690

Note:

"Miscellaneous" includes blank firing, muzzle loading and antique weapons.

Mr. William Ross

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many shotguns, rifles, handguns, air rifles and pistols, respectively, are at present held on firearms certificates in Northern Ireland; how many firearms certificates are due for renewal in the present financial year and in each of the two preceding years: and in each case, in each year, how many applications for renewal were refused.

Mr. John Patten

At 31 December 1981 the total number of weapons held on firearm certificates in Northern Ireland was 115,940, as follows:

Shotguns 76,087
Rifles 13,765
Handguns 10,184
Air weapons 15,103
Miscellaneous 801

Details of the number of firearms certificates due for renewal and the number of renewal applications refused during the last three calendar years are as follows:

Firearms certificates due for renewal Renewal applications refused
1979 18,695 92
1980 16,711 79
1981 39,422 78

Information on firearm certificates and the weapons they cover which were due for renewal in each financial year is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.