Dispose of Firearms Safely During Gun Surrender

A two-week amnesty for the surrender of firearms and ammunition is set to get underway.

Starting on Monday 3rd November and running until Monday 17th November North Wales Police are encouraging people to surrender unlawfully held or unwanted guns and ammunition to help avoid them getting into the wrong hands.

Firearms legislation has recently changed – the new legislation, which came into effect on July 14, increases the maximum jail term for illegal gun possession from 10 years to life – and that includes anyone who’s 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.

Many firearms may be held in innocence and ignorance of their illegality or may be overlooked or forgotten in people’s homes. This may be more prevalent in rural settings like North Wales, than other places. The amnesty gives holders the chance to dispose of the firearm or ammunition safely by taking it to a local police station and handing it in.

Surrendering unwanted, unlicensed weapons avoids the risk of them becoming involved in criminality and means that members of the community can dispose of firearms in a safe place.

During that period, those surrendering firearms will not face prosecution for the illegal possession and they can remain anonymous. However, the history of each live weapon will be checked for evidence of its use in crimes.

Inspector Jonathan Salisbury-Jones, who is coordinating the surrender in North Wales said: “Gun crime in the UK has continued to fall year on year for the last ten years. However we are not complacent about gun crime, which is why we are conducting the surrender now.

“Given the largely rural setting of our area, it may well be that people hold unlicensed firearms that have been handed down to them from relatives for example. In the past they may have been concerned as regards what to do with these weapons. Furthermore there may be people who, because of the change in legislation around possessing a firearm, now own a weapon they cannot legally hold. This surrender period allows them to dispose of these weapons in a manner that can allay those fears.

“Fortunately North Wales does not have a significant gun crime problem. This campaign is part of a national programme and in this area it is primarily aimed at providing a period of time where people can surrender unlicensed weapons and ammunition without the fear of prosecution.

He added: “We want as many guns surrendered as possible and I would encourage the public to come forward in this manner.”

As part of the initiative officers from the Rural Crime Team will be visiting farmers auctions and markets to give advice and speak to anybody who may have any questions relating to the surrender.

NABIS (National Ballistics Intelligence Service) work with police forces across the UK to provide a forensic service to analyse guns and ballistic material. Head of NABIS, Detective Chief Superintendent Iain O’ Brien said: “Gun amnesties provide an important opportunity for people to hand firearms over to police and prevent them falling into the hands of criminals and endangering the public. We are pleased that North Wales Police are running this operation and we hope as many people as possible take this opportunity to surrender their guns.”

Weapons and ammunition can be surrendered at the following police stations – Wrexham, Mold, Rhyl, Llandudno, Colwyn Bay, Caernarfon, Bangor and Holyhead. However if people are unable to visit any of these stations they are advised to contact North Wales Police on 101 to make alternative arrangements. To receive advice on how best to transport the weapon responsibly from home to their police station phone 101 before travelling.

If you know of people involved in illegal firearms activity call North Wales Police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Every call to Crimestoppers is anonymous and potentially vital to preventing or solving serious crimes; removing an illegally held firearm may just save someone’s life.

Station opening times:

Wrexham Police Station. Opening times: 8:30am – 7pm Mon to Sat. 9am – 6pm Sundays
Mold Police Station. Opening times: 9am – 1pm & 3pm – 6pm Monday to Sat