Gunbelievable

3,600 weapons destroyed in a year bý Forces

- KEN FOXE

THE Defence Forces had to destroy more than 3,600 weapons last year, including valuable rifles.

Strict rules forbid the Irish military from selling weaponry - but sources reckon the decommissioned shooters could have netted a significant cash pot for the State.

Inventory shows 1,714 pistols, many of them Brownings; 1,555 rifles, mostly Lee-Enfield .303 rifles; 208 light. machine guns and 96 heavy machine guns were scrapped.

A source said the rifles were still valuable to collectors and, had they been sold, could have generated a significant payback for the exchequer.