asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what has been the increase over the last 20 years in (a) prosecutions and convictions for the unlawful possession of firearms and (b) authorisations for policemen to carry firearms for England, Wales, the Metropolitan police area and Nottinghamshire, respectively.
Information available on persons proceeded against and found guilty in England and Wales in 1971 and 1981 for certain principal offences related to the unlawful possession of firearms is given in the table; corresponding data for earlier years is not available. Information by area is not available for 1971 and, for 1981, could be provided only at disproportionate cost.The number of occasions on which firearms were issued to policemen in 1971 and 1981 for England, Wales and Metropolitan Police area and Nottinghamshire is also listed below. Corresponding data for earlier years is not available.
Persons proceeded against in England and Wales for certain principal offences related to the unlawful possession of firearms.
| |||||
Offence
| Section of
| Number of persons Proceeded against
| Number of persons Found guilty
| ||
Firearms Act 1968
| 1971
| 1981
| 1971
| 1981
| |
| Possession or purchase etc. of firearm or ammunition without a firearm or shotgun certificate* | S1(1), 2(1) | 2,283 | 1,821 | 2,085 | 1,744 |
| Possession of firearms by person previously convicted of crime* | S21(4) | 284 | 297 | 182 | 282 |
| Possession or distribution of prohibited weapons or ammunition* | S5(l) | 42 | 52 | 36 | 62 |
| Unlawful possession of a firearm or ammunition, shotgun or air weapon by a person under 17* | S22(2)-(5) | 510 | 434 | 496 | 420 |
* Excludes prosecutions in which the defendent was given a more severe sentence at the same set of proceedings for another type of offence. | |||||
Occasions on which police officers were authorised to carry firearms in operations against persons known or believed to be armed
| ||
1971
| 1981
| |
| England | 1,930 | 6,081 |
| Wales | 5 | 68 |
| Metropolitan | 1,344 | 4,983 |
| Nottinghamshire | 4 | 15 |
asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimates he has as to the number of firearms held illegally in the United Kingdom in 1951, 1961, 1971 and for the most recent date for which figures are available.
We have no reliable information on which to base such estimates.