Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment has been made of the number of illegally held firearms in the UK.

The National Ballistics Intelligence Service (NABIS) and wider law enforcement regularly assess the volume of illegal firearms in the UK. NABIS produce quarterly reports on the threat, however, their assessment is continuous and key information is shared amongst law enforcement on a real time basis. This information is operationally sensitive and not suitable for release.

We are continuing to make real the Strategic Defence and Security Review commitment to, “…choke off the supply and availability of illegal firearms to prevent their use by criminal or terrorist groups in the UK”. This includes ensuring we have the right intelligence, detection and enforcement capabilities and policies, internationally, at the UK border, and within the UK. To support this a multi-agency firearms unit has also been established with £2.4m of Police Transformation Funding.