170 Guns Handed To Police In Surrender

15 February 2019, 07:39 | Updated: 15 February 2019, 07:40

A Kalashnikov AK-47 assault rifle has been handed in to Kent Police as part of a firearms surrender.

The deactivated gun was passed to officers on January 24 together with a magazine and some dummy rounds.

It was one of more than 170 firearms and nearly 4,000 rounds of ammunition seized during the amnesty which ran between Monday January 21 and Wednesday February 6, allowing people to hand over unwanted or illegally held weapons or ammunition.

Police officers obtained a range of interesting items as part of the initiative including shotguns, revolvers and rifles.

During the first day, officers received a Colt New Service .445 calibre revolver, a firearm forged in 1898, used by British and Commonwealth forces up until the end of the Second World War.

On January 22, 12 firearms were handed in at North Kent station, with three revolvers - a Hopkins and Allen, a Webley service revolver and a Colt revolver - all capable of firing.

Detective Chief Inspector Patrick Holmes said: "We had an excellent response to this year's surrender. "Many firearms are held innocently with owners unaware of their illegality, or are overlooked heirlooms forgotten in people's homes.

"The initiative gave residents the chance to hand in unwanted firearms ensuring that they were safely removed off the streets and preventing them from being acquired and distributed by criminal networks.

"Every firearm off the streets is another weapon which has been prevented from being potentially used in criminal activity and potentially another life which has been saved, so I would like to thank all those residents who used the surrender as an opportunity to hand in their unwanted or illegally held firearms and ammunition."