Written question asked by Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat) on Wednesday, 17 December 2008, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 12 January 2009. It was answered by Bob Ainsworth (Labour) on Tuesday, 13 January 2009 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Weapons: Theft

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) how many weapons of each type have (a) been stolen and (b) gone missing from armed forces bases in each of the last five years;

Answer

[holding answer 12 January 2009]: The following table sets out details of Ministry of Defence firearms recorded as lost/stolen for the last five calendar years, 2004-08 and include bases both home and abroad. The figures represent the latest available from the Service Police Crime Bureau.

Weapon statistics 2004-08
	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008
Weapon type	Stolen	Lost	Stolen	Lost	Stolen	Lost	Stolen	Lost	Stolen	Lost
Pistol	10	10	5	3	8	10	11	16	20	9
Rifle	15	3	9	7	14	19	14	8	14	16
Machine guns	0	0	0	0	0	6	0	0	3	0
Totals	25	13	14	10	22	35	25	24	37	25

Figures by individual service could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 486 c560W; 246124
Session: 2008-09
Subjects: Weapons Theft
Contains statistics: Yes
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk

Weapons: Theft

Secondary information

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