§ Miss WiddecombeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimates he has made of the number of illegally held firearms in the United Kingdom; and if he will make a statement. [5787]
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§ Mr. DenhamThere is no reliable means of estimating the number of illegally held firearms in the United Kingdom.
The existence of any illegal firearms is of great concern to the Government and we are fully committed to supporting the police and other law enforcement agencies in their efforts to combat the illegal possession and criminal use of firearms.
The use of firearms in crime is small in relation both to overall national crime figures (0.1 per cent.) and to other comparable countries. We are liaising closely with the police to establish the source of illegal weapons. There is no evidence at present of organised and large-scale smuggling; nor does there appear to be a single main source of firearms.
Armed crime cannot be tackled in isolation from other criminal activities, in particular drug trafficking and robbery. Tackling these crimes is one of the Government's highest priorities.