§ Mr. MitchellTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many incidents of shootings with620W handguns have been reported since their possession was made illegal; and how many were reported over the last similar period before the ban was introduced. [51654]
§ Mr. MichaelThe Criminal Statistics are collected and published on a yearly basis to 31 December. The figures for the year ending 31 December 1997 are not yet available. Because of this, it is not yet possible to provide the information requested. In the year ending 31 December 1996, there were 2,956 notifiable offences recorded by the police in which handguns were reported to have been used.
The Firearms (Amendment) Acts 1997 were passed in order to ensure as far as possible that the terrible events which took place at Dunblane Primary School on 13 March 1996 would never be repeated.
The legislation was not intended specifically to reduce the use of handguns in crime. Nevertheless, the legislation will mean that the several hundred handguns misappropriated from private homes and cars each year will no longer be available to swell the number of illegally held weapons.