To ask Her Majesty's Government how many (a) legal and (b) illegal firearms they estimate are in the United Kingdom. [HL2542]

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many (a) legal and (b) illegal firearms they estimate entered the United Kingdom last year, or in the most recent year for which figures are available. [HL2543]

To ask Her Majesty's Government which regions or cities they estimate have the largest concentration of illegal weapons; and in which regions or cities they believe illegal weapons to be most readily available to buy. [HL2544]

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have made estimates of the cost of purchasing (a) an illegal handgun, (b) an illegal rifle, and (c) an illegal submachine gun in the United Kingdom; and, if so, what those estimates are. [HL2545]

We do not hold this information.

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people were convicted of (a) possession, and (b) use of an illegal firearm, in (1) 1997, and (2) the most recent year for which figures are available. [HL2546]

The number of persons found guilty at all courts for offences relating to possession and to use of an illegal firearm in England and Wales for the years 1997 and 2007 can be viewed in the attached table. Information for Scotland and Northern Ireland are matters for the. Scottish Executive and the Northern Ireland Office respectively.

These data are on the principal offence basis. The figures given in the table on court proceedings relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offence for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences, the offence selected is the one for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.

Court proceedings data for 2008 will be available in the autumn of 2009.

(1) These data are on the principal offence basis.

(2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.

(3) Includes the following statutes and corresponding offence descriptions:

Firearms Act 1968 (Group I) Sec 1(1), as amended by the Criminal Justice & Public Order Act 1994, Sec. 157, Sch. 8 part III. Possessing etc firearm or ammunition without firearm certificate.

Firearms Act 1968, Sec 2(1) (Group II) as amended by Criminal Justice & Public Order Act 1994, Sec. 157 Sch. 8 part III. Possessing etc shot gun without certificate.

Firearms Act, 1968 Sec 5(1) (Group I) as amended by Criminal Justice Act 2003 S.288 Possessing or distributing prohibited weapons or ammunition.

Firearms Act 1968 Sec 5(1A)(a) (Group I) as amended by Criminal Justice Act 2003 Sec.288 Possessing or distributing firearm disguised as other object.

Firearms Act 1968 Sec 5(1A) (b),(c),(d)(e),(f) or (g) as amended by Criminal Justice Act 2003 Sec.288 Possessing or distributing other prohibited weapons.

(4) It is not possible to separately identify those convictions that pertain to possessing and those to distributing prohibited weapons or ammunition.

Source: Office for Criminal Justice Reform—Ministry of Justice.

Our ref: IOS 195-09 (Table)