National Threat Assessment 2008. Organised Crime - Politie

the weapons are stashed at a safe address, sometimes with the knowledge
of the owner/resident and sometimes without.
2.8.3 Scale
Little is known about the scale of illegal trading and smuggling of firearms.
Illegal firearms possession and incidents involving firearms in the Netherlands
are therefore used as an indication of scale.
Possession
The most recent estimate of the illegal possession of firearms in the Netherlands
dates from 2000. At the time, there were an estimated 54,000 illegal owners
of firearms in the Netherlands who were allegedly in possession of between
85,000 and 125,000 illegal live firearms. It should be noted that this level of
possession among the population is not merely the result of illegal trading by
criminal organisations. An unknown number of the weapons held illegally is the
result of private individuals purchasing weapons abroad without the organised
arms trade being involved.
During the 2002 to 2006 period, the police registered a total of over 20,000
people as being suspected of illegal possession of Category II and III firearms or
ammunition (Section 26 of the Weapons and Ammunition Act). The table below
shows how many suspects are registered annually. Since 2003 there has been a
steady decline in the number of people suspected of illegally possessing firearms.
Table 4
Suspects of illegally possessing firearms, 2002-2006
Year 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 Total
Number of suspects (Section 26
Weapons and Ammunition Act)
3,886 4,590 4,506 4,254 3,873 21,109
Source: Herkenningsdienstsysteem (HKS, registration system for suspects), 2007
Incidents
During the 2001 to 2006 period, the number of incidents where firearms are
involved varies, it rises from 3.572 in 2001 to 5,013 in 2004 and then decreases
to 3,747 in 2006. It is unclear to which extent these incidents are related to
illegal trade in firearms.
82 National Threat Assessment 2008 – Organised crime