Nearly 700 firearms that have been issued to politicians from 1980 to 1990 have not been returned, according to statistics released by the Defence Ministry.

According to the Defence Ministry, 698 firearms had been issued to 154 politicians during the decade from 1980 to 1990 but none have been returned.

The list of names of politicians and the firearms they had failed to return were tabled in Parliament this week by State Minister of Defence Premitha Bandara Tennakoon in response to a question raised by MP Dullas Alahapperuma.

According to the documents tabled by State Minister Tennakoon, the firearms the politicians had been issued with were mostly 9mm pistols, revolvers and 12 bore shotguns. Some persons had been issued multiple firearms on different occasions, including on behalf of their respective parties. A number of the politicians who have failed to return firearms issued to them are now deceased.

State Minister Tennakoon told Parliament that the Defence Ministry had no records to indicate why these firearms were issued but it was their observation that the firearms would have been issued for the protection of politicians owing to the situation that prevailed in the country during the 1980-1990 period.

In answer to another question posed by Mr Alahapperuma, the state minister said the Defence Ministry has not issued any automatic firearms to politicians from 1990 to 2023. 9mm pistols are considered semi-automatic weapons, he pointed out.