Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to help prevent the conversion of handguns that are designed to fire blanks into guns which can fire live rounds.

This Government is committed to tackling the threat posed by the illegal trafficking and misuse of firearms. This includes making it harder for criminals to access blank firing weapons and preventing these devices being converted for criminal use.

Under the Firearms Act 1968, for anyone other than a registered firearms dealer, it is an offence to convert blank firers to lethal purpose.

The Home Office works closely with the National Crime Agency to reduce the threat posed by converted blank firearms. This includes reviewing relevant legislation, working with manufacturers to make blank firearms harder to covert, and supporting police forces to tackle the threat from converted blank firearms.