§ Mr. GallieTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many handgun licences are currently registered in England and Wales; [4348]
(2) how many handgun licences have been registered in each year in England and Wales since 1966. [4350]
§ Miss WiddecombeInformation on the number of handgun licences, as distinct from all firearms certificates, is not routinely collected in England and Wales.
However, a special exercise recently conducted showed that at the beginning of 1996 approximately 54,280 firearm certificates current in England and Wales allowed the holder to possess a handgun.
§ Mr. GallieTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many offences involving the discharge of a firearm took place in each year since 1966 in England and Wales; [4355]
(2) how many offences involving the carrying of a firearm took place in each year since 1966 in England and Wales. [4349]
§ Miss WiddecombeDetailed statistics on offences involving firearms have been published annually in "Criminal Statistics, England and Wales". However, the level of detail and the coverage have varied over the years. The following table gives the available information:
5W
Offences involving firearms, England and Wales, 1967–1995 Number of offences in which firearms were used Number of offences in which firearms were carried but not presented or used Number of offences in which firearms were fined 1967 792 71 n/a 1968 878 83 n/a 1969 1,308 109 n/a 1970 1,358 104 n/a 1971 1,734 127 n/a 1972 2,070 85 n/a 1973 2,466 101 n/a
Offences involving firearms, England and Wales, 1967–1995 Number of offences in which firearms were used Number of offences in which firearms were carried but not presented or used Number of offences in which firearms were fined 1974 2,828 116 n/a 1975 3,850 149 n/a 1976 4,632 223 n/a 1977 5,302 186 n/a 1978 5,672 232 n/a 1979 6,547 270 n/a 1980 6,587 185 n/a 1981 8,067 315 n/a 1982 8,400 221 n/a 1983 7,961 218 n/a 1984 8,376 207 n/a 1985 9,742 125 6,908 1986 9,368 177 6,443 1987 9,002 208 5,793 1988 8,524 259 5,338 1989 9,502 363 5,551 1990 10,373 332 5,771 1991 12,129 261 5,984 1992 13,305 255 6,687 1993 13,951 290 7,012 1994 12,977 186 7,642 1995 13,104 n/a 7,986
§ Mr. ChurchillTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many legally held firearms are known to have been used in the commission or furtherance of criminal acts in each of the last 10 years to March 1996. [4380]
§ Miss Widdecombe[holding answer 18 November 1996]Information as to whether firearms used in offences are legally held has not, in the past, been routinely collected centrally in England and Wales.
A special exercise has recently been conducted to find out whether the guns used in homicide were licensed or not.
This covered the years 1992 to 1994, and out of a total of 196 homicides, information was available in 152 cases to show that 22 cases or 14 per cent. involved the use of a firearm legally held by the suspect.