§ Lord Marlesfordasked Her Majesty's Government:
How many handguns have been handed in to each police force under the provisions of the Firearms Acts; how many of these have been destroyed; and what records police forces are required to keep of the identification numbers, or other particulars, of firearms handed in and destroyed. [HL3231]
§ Lord Williams of MostynUnder the terms of the Firearms (Amendment) Acts 1997, a total of 162,198 handguns were surrendered to the police in England, 17WA Wales and Scotland. A breakdown of these figures by police force area is contained in the table. A proportion of the 3,607 firearms surrendered or otherwise disposed of under the terms of the Firearms (Amendment) Act 1988 will also have been handguns but details of these were not recorded centrally.
Figures for the number of handguns destroyed are not collected centrally. The vast majority of handguns surrendered to the police have been destroyed, or will be when the relevant compensation claims have been settled and disposal instructions issued by the Firearms Compensation Section. A small number of handguns will be retained by the police for official purposes or will be given to suitably authorised museums.
The way in which the details of firearms surrendered to the police were recorded is a matter for individual chief officers. Serial numbers for such firearms should have been given on the compensation claim forms submitted to the police at the time of surrender, and should have been checked by the police against the serial numbers appearing on the firearms themselves and in the relevant firearm certificates or dealers' registers of transactions.
18WA
Handguns Surrendered under the Firearms Acts 1997 Constabulary/Police 1997 Act 1997 (No. 2) Act England & Wales Large Calibre Small Calibre (ex gratia) Total Small Calibre Combined Total Avon & Somerset 3,227 566 3,793 702 4,495 Bedfordshire 992 232 1,224 150 1,374 City of London 73 30 103 30 133 Cambridgeshire 1,176 365 1,541 253 1,794 Cheshire 2,250 361 2,611 367 2,978 Cleveland 700 242 942 123 1,065 Cumbria 863 150 1,013 274 1,287 Derbyshire 1,791 476 2,267 287 2,554 Devon & Cornwall 3,625 573 4,198 892 5,090 Dorset 2,207 545 2,752 348 3,100 Durham 1,020 313 1,333 108 1,441 Dyfed Powys 1,320 234 1,554 239 1,793 Essex 4,840 1,268 6,108 658 6,766 Gloucestershire 1,102 280 1,382 318 1,700 Greater Manchester 3,834 1,093 4,927 595 5,522 Gwent 1,112 289 1,401 163 1,564 Hampshire 3,757 766 4,523 649 5,172 Hertfordshire 1,998 435 2,433 241 2,674 Humberside 1,169 352 1,521 216 1,737 Kent 3,745 822 4,567 603 5,170 Lancashire 2,280 671 2,951 340 3,291 Leicestershire 2,515 377 2,892 202 3,094 Lincolnshire 1,308 338 1,646 162 1,808 Merseyside 2,907 650 3,557 408 3,965 Met Area 1 699 177 876 89 965 Met Area 2 2,852 629 3,481 499 3,980 Met Area 3 3,264 749 4,013 473 4,486 Met Area 4 4,176 868 5,044 820 5,864 Met Area 5 3,324 573 3,897 631 4,528 Norfolk 2,224 554 2,778 350 3,128 Northamptonshire 1,048 333 1,381 226 1,607 Northumbria 1,823 459 2,282 279 2,561 North Wales 1,267 287 1,554 263 1,817 North Yorkshire 3,105 794 3,899 126 4,025 Nottinghamshire 3,571 555 4,126 628 4,754 South Wales 2,862 784 3,646 337 3,983 South Yorkshire 2,125 663 2,788 219 3,007 Staffordshire 2,942 641 3,583 364 3,947 Suffolk 1,598 527 2,125 216 2,341 Surrey 3,114 668 3,782 680 4,462 Sussex Thames 3,286 502 3,788 530 4,318
Handgun Surrendered under the Firearms Acts 1997 Constabulary/Police 1997 Act 1997 (No. 2) Act England & Wales Large Calibre Small Calibre (ex gratia) Total Small Calibre Combined Total Valley 3,806 807 4,613 1,013 5,626 Warwickshire 832 215 1,047 176 1,223 West Mercia 2,588 608 3,196 491 3,687 West Midlands 5,011 825 5,836 640 6,476 West Yorkshire 3,702 654 4,356 588 4,944 Wiltshire 1,352 320 1,672 204 1,876 Sub Total for E and W 110,382 24,620 135,002 18,170 153,172 Scotland Central Scotland 289 103 392 17 409 Dumfries and Galloway 236 83 319 33 352 Fife 293 76 369 61 430 Grampian 657 149 806 85 891 Lothian and Borders 1,253 245 1,498 194 1,692 Northern 958 307 1,265 173 1,438 Strathclyde 1,922 633 2,555 378 2,933 Tayside 654 155 809 72 881 Sub total for Scotland 6,262 1,751 8,013 1,013 9,026 Overall total for E, W and S 116,644 26,371 143,015 19,183 162,198