§ Mr. William RossTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many legally-held(a) handguns of over .22 calibre and (b) rifles of over .22 calibre have been stolen from private individuals, excluding police and prison officers, in Northern Ireland, and how many such weapons were stolen from members of (i) the armed forces, (ii) the police and police reserves and (iii) prison officers, in each of the last 10 years. [106064]
§ Mr. IngramThe following table shows the number of illegally held handguns stolen from private individuals, the Armed Forces, the Police and Prison Officers in each of the last 10 years.
Year Private individuals Armed forces Police officers Prison officers 1990 0 6 15 4 1991 8 5 12 2 1992 3 5 3 1 1993 7 1 5 0 1994 12 6 14 0 1995 7 2 6 0 1996 7 4 6 1 1997 11 1 2 0 1998 16 2 6 0 1999 7 1 1 1 Totals 78 33 70 9 During this period one rifle was stolen from a police officer.
The Chief Constable has advised that the information in relation to the calibres of these firearms is not easily accessible and obtaining it would incur disproportionate cost.