How many guns were lost or stolen in West Yorkshire last year

The Home Office said enforcement agencies "will work quickly to crack down on criminals who illegally obtain firearms".

Its figures show seven guns were lost or stolen in West Yorkshire in the year to March – up from five the year before.

Of them, five were stolen and two were lost.

Some six of these were shotguns, while one was a rifle.

READ: Shotguns, pistols and rifles come from firearms surrender

Across England and Wales, 439 firearms and shotguns were reported lost or stolen in the year to March, a 20 per cent rise from 365 the previous year – of these, 165 were lost and 274 were stolen, both increases from the year before.

Gun owners are required by law to report a lost or stolen weapon within seven days of the incident.

West Yorkshire Police held an 18-day firearms surrender in May

The number of people seeing their licences revoked has also increased across England and Wales.

Last year, 385 firearms licences were removed from owners, a 26% increase from the 306 the year prior, while a further 1,075 shotgun licences were revoked, up by 9% from 982.

Among them were 100 firearm and shotgun licences revoked in West Yorkshire.

Overall, 617 applications for a firearm or shotgun licence from people living in the area were accepted – up from 355 in 2020-21.

It means 10,716 people are now authorised to use guns in the area – of these, 25 are aged 17 and under.

Several rifles and handguns came from the surrender

A spokesperson from the force said: “West Yorkshire Police has a comprehensive approach to the criminal use of firearms, including a specialist team within its Programme Precision response to manage the associated threat.

“This approach ensures a consistent response to incidents involving stolen and recovered firearms and has resulted in a 66 per cent reduction in firearms discharges when compared to the same period for 2017, as well as 280 recoveries of guns between November 2020 and October 2021. 

“We also have a robust system in place for granting firearms certificates and do so in accordance with the Firearms Act and guidance from the Home Office.

“The force is committed to keeping the communities of West Yorkshire safe and will continue to take action against those who seek to cause harm through the criminal use of firearms.”