§ Mr. George RobertsonTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what is the total number of machine guns and semi-automatic rifles for which import licences were granted for each of the last five years; and if he will break down the figures by(a) domestic police and armed forces end use and (b) others. [26427]
§ Mr. OppenheimDTI licences for the import of machine guns and semi-automatic rifles are issued only to those individuals or companies who have a valid authority, granted at the discretion of either the Home Secretary, the Scottish Secretary or the Northern Ireland Secretary, to hold or to trade in such weapons.
The numbers of these types of firearms for which import licences were specifically applied for each of the past five years are as follows:
290W
- Year
- 1991: £26,709
- 1992: £ 7,908
- 1993: £14,571
- 1994: £23,166
- 1995: £31,233.
It should, however, be borne in mind that some licences are not used or are only partly used.
It is not possible from import licensing data to provide details of the number of weapons destined for police possession. The armed forces are exempt from the Firearms Act and from DTI import licensing.