Staffordshire Police is urging anyone in Stone with unwanted or unlicensed firearms and ammunition to hand them in to the town’s police station during a gun amnesty that runs until 9th November.
Those surrendering firearms during the amnesty – which started on 27th October and runs to 9th November – will not face prosecution for illegal possession and, if they wish, can remain anonymous. However, the history of each live weapon will be checked for evidence of its use in crimes.
Police say that many firearms may be held in innocence and ignorance of their illegality, or may be overlooked or forgotten in people’s homes. Surrendering unwanted or unlicensed weapons, they say, avoids the risk of them becoming involved in criminality and means that people can dispose of firearms and ammunition in a safe place.
Superintendent Mick Boyle, Head of Operational Services, said: “Gun crime in the UK has continued to fall year on year for the last 10 years. In Staffordshire there has been a 23 per cent decrease but we are not complacent, which is why we are giving this opportunity for people to dispose of unwanted guns safely. People may have firearms that belong to other people, they may have inherited them, or they may have been overlooked or forgotten about. We encourage people to hand weapons in.”
Weapons and ammunition can be surrendered at any police station. Stone police station, in Radford Street, is open from 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday. Anyone wishing to hand in firearms should disarm them and put them in a box or strong bag and place ammunition in a separate box/bag.
New firearms legislation came into effect in July, increasing the maximum jail term for illegal gun possession from 10 years to life and now includes anyone who is storing a weapon for someone else. It also includes antique firearms amid fears obsolete weapons can be made viable by criminals with ballistics know-how.
