§ Sir John Farrasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the answer of 23 July 1985, Official Report, columns 465–6, in each of the five years 1979 to 1983, how many firearms that were stolen of each type were subsequently found to have been used in crimes.
§ Mr. Giles ShawThis information is not recorded by chief officers of police. While there is little concrete evidence to show how criminals obtain their weapons, between 2,500 and 3,000 firearms annually were reported stolen since 1979 and one must accept that a number of these will subsequently have been used in further crimes.