Police seized 891 illegal firearms across Sri Lanka between January 1 and September 17 this year, Cabinet Spokesman and Minister Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa said at the weekly Cabinet media briefing on Tuesday.
The weapons recovered during police operations included 14 T-56 assault rifles, 33 pistols and 25 revolvers, the minister told reporters.
Well below last year’s total
The figure is substantially lower than the previous year’s. Jayatissa said 2,404 firearms were taken into custody during operations conducted in 2025, among them 74 T-56 assault rifles — more than five times this year’s assault-rifle count.
The minister did not say whether the fall reflects fewer weapons in circulation, a change in the tempo of police operations, or both.
Shooting incidents
Jayatissa also disclosed that 40 shooting incidents have been reported across the country since the beginning of this year. Of these, 35 were identified as organised shootings — that is, attributed to organised criminal groups rather than isolated disputes.
A total of 22 people have been killed in shooting incidents reported so far this year, according to the minister.
A note on the reporting period
Daily Mirror headlined the figure as covering the “first nine months” of the year. The period the minister actually gave runs from January 1 to September 17 — roughly eight and a half months — so the full nine-month total is likely to be somewhat higher once the remainder of September is counted.
Firearms recovery has been a recurring theme of government crime statements this year, following the large-scale police operations launched under earlier administrations and the continuing series of organised shootings in the Western and Southern provinces.
Sources
Ada Derana also reported the minister’s figures, but its pages were not reachable at the time of writing.
