§ Lord Marlesfordasked Her Majesty's Government:
How many weapons are registered by the 670,000 shotgun certificates and the 140,200 firearm certificates which were in force in England and Wales on 31 December 1994, what were the comparable number of certificates which were in force in Scotland and Northern Ireland respectively and what number of weapons were registered for those countries.
§ The Minister of State, Home Office (Baroness Blatch)It is estimated that the 670,000 shotgun certificates and 140,200 firearm certificates on issue in England and Wales at the end of 1994 cover about 1,330,000 shotguns and 396,800 firearms respectively.
90WAIn Scotland, 70,424 shotgun certificates and 31,952 firearm certificates were on issue at the end of 1994. Information is not collected centrally on the number of weapons these certificates cover.
All firearms, including shotguns, are subject to a firearm certificate in Northern Ireland and so directly comparable figures are not available. At the end of 1994, 87,949 firearm certificates were on issue, covering an estimated 132,438 weapons, 84,733 of which were shotguns. The remaining 47,705 weapons included 20,447 air weapons and 826 miscellaneous firearms, many of which do not require to be covered by certificates in England and Wales or Scotland.