55,000 shotguns and counting: how many guns are registered in Malta?

At a total of 96,425 registered firearms, the Maltese population can pride itself in enjoying a variety of firearms: from the expected shotguns to 477 machine guns, three mortars and two rocket launchers.

Surprisingly, the list tabled in parliament by home affairs minister Carmelo Abela, in reply to a question by PN MP Jason Azzopardi, only included one harpoon gun registered with the Police Force.

Going by the statistics, the most popular firearms among the Maltese are shotguns (55,962), pistols (10,553), rifles (7,856), revolvers (5,369), air rifles (4,765) and air pistols (3,272).