To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many legally registered firearms have been (a) reported stolen, (b) found to be missing and (c) otherwise separated from (i) private and (ii) public owners in each of the last 10 years; and what percentage that represents of the total number of legally held weapons. [81131]

[holding answer 21 April 1999]: Records are not maintained by the RUC in a manner that would provide a breakdown of firearms stolen or found to be missing into the categories requested. However I am advised by the Chief Constable that the total numbers of legally registered firearms reported stolen or found to be missing from private and public owners in Northern Ireland in each of the last 10 years are follows:

Period	Private	Public	Total
16 April 1989-15 April 1990	78	5	83
16 April 1990–15 April 1991	79	10	89
16 April 1991–15 April 1992	76	1	77
16 April 1992–15 April 1993	87	4	91
16 April 1993–15 April 1994	84	1	85
16 April 1994–15 April 1995	84	2	86
16 April 1995–15 April 1996	80	2	82
16 April 1996–15 April 1997	97	3	100
16 April 1997–15 April 1998	143	2	145
16 April 1998–15 April 1999	125	4	129
Total	933	34	967

In the present context "public owners" is taken to mean those public sector employees who require a firearm for their official duties and hold same on foot of a firearms certificate issued to them by the Chief Constable.The methods used by the RUC to keep firearms statistics in general, or those reported stolen or found to be missing do not permit a percentage calculation for the years requested.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if she will list the names of approved firearms clubs giving (a) the estimated membership of each, (b) the parliamentary constituency in which its premises are located and (c) the (i) number and (ii) types of weapons reported (1) stolen and (2) lost from each club in the last five years.[81132]

[holding answer 21 April 1999]: The following is a list of firearms clubs authorised by the Secretary of State under Article 54 of the Firearms (NI) Order 1981 together with the estimated membership of each and the Parliamentary Constituencies in which the clubs' authorised premises are located. I am advised by the Chief Constable that information regarding the number and types of firearms reported stolen or lost from each club in the last five years is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many legally held firearms there are in Northern Ireland (a) in total and (b) of each type. [81133]

[holding answer 21 April 1999]: The Chief Constable has advised me that at 31 December 1998 there were 139,588 legally held firearms in Northern Ireland. The breakdown of these is as follows:

Type of firearm	Number
Shotguns	90,548
Airguns	22,109
Rifles	14,254
Handguns	12,090
Miscellaneous	1587
1Mainly firearms used for the humane killing of animals