§ Mr. Hickmetasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the availability of imitation firearms; what evidence he has as to their useage in crime; and whether he has any plans to control them.
§ Mr. Giles ShawIt is already an offence to use any imitation firearms to resist arrest or to commit a crime. Heavy penalties apply in such cases. In addition, under the Firearms Act 1982, imitation firearms capable of ready conversion to fire live ammunition are already subject to the same stringent controls imposed on actual firearms by the Firearms Act 1968. We do not think that it would be sensible to restrict or try to control the sale or possesion of toy or imitation guns which are not capable of being converted to fire live ammunition. There are already many such imitations or toys in circulation, and realistic imitations can easily be constructed by those intent on a criminal act.
The following table gives information about notifiable offences recorded by the police in England and Wales in which imitation firearms were reported to have been used:
178W
Year Number of offences 1979 144 1980 161 1981 206 1982 183 1983 167 1984 182
§ Mr. Giles ShawThe available information is set out in the following table: