§ Mr. William RossTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, if he will publish a table in theOfficial Report to show how many privately held (a) shotguns, (b) .22 rifles, (c) rifles of larger calibre, (d) hand-guns, (e) air and gas-operated weapons and (f) antique firearms, have been lost or stolen each year from 1976 to the latest available date; how many of each such category were subsequently recovered; and how many in each category are known to have been used in criminal, including terrorist, activity or as much of such information as is available to him.
§ Mr. Ian Stewart[holding answer 23 March 1989]: Information is not readily available in the form requested. However, such information as is available is contained in the following tables.
Table 1 Firearms stolen from civilians Year Shotguns Rifles1 Pistols/ revolvers Antiques Air weapons 1976 128 23 8 1 18 1977 53 8 8 — 7 1978 35 3 3 — 3 1979 34 3 2 — 7 1980 38 7 — 2 8 1981 69 7 8 2 13 1982 60 9 13 2 5 1983 64 4 13 4 8 1984 78 4 11 1 9 1985 79 11 8 — 9 1986 96 9 4 — 20 1987 91 17 17 — 13 1988 59 6 10 — 9 21989 7 4 2 — — 1 Including .22 calibre. 2 To 21 March.
Table 2 Firearms stolen from civilians and recovered between 1976 and 1989 (to 21 March) Shotguns Rifles Pistols/revolvers Antiques Air weapons 365 30 41 — 31