U.K. "Weapons amnesty has netted 17,000 firearms"

[cuchulainn]

from the Independent

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/crime/story.jsp?story=401455

Weapons amnesty has netted 17,000 firearms

By Nigel Morris
29 April 2003

Seventeen thousand firearms and almost half a million rounds of ammunition have been surrendered to police as part of the national amnesty to tackle gun crime.

Swords, knives, machetes, CS sprays and replica weapons have also been handed in during the month-long exercise. A 2ft-long rocket launcher, capable of knocking out a tank, was handed in at Aberdare, south Wales, while an anti-tank rifle and a Kalashnikov AK-47 were produced at Scottish police stations. Police in Cumbria have collected hand grenades.

The Home Office hailed the amnesty, which had netted 17,216 firearms by last week, as a huge success and said it was considering a repeat in the near future. As the deadline nears, police expect a final rush of people giving up guns. The final haul is expected to exceed 20,000 weapons and half a million rounds of ammunition.

The Metropolitan Police have taken in 1,300 weapons and 27,000 rounds of ammunition, while the West Midlands Police collected 500 guns and 4,000 rounds of ammunition in the amnesty's first three weeks.

During the amnesty people have been able to hand in firearms without being prosecuted for possession, but they face prosecution if a weapon is found to have been used for criminal purposes.

The move precedes the introduction of tougher sentences for possession of prohibited firearms – a minimum five-year jail term for those convicted. The amnesty, the first in seven years, was agreed by police and government officials at a meeting with community representatives, in January after the murders of two teenage girls outside a New Year party in Birmingham. The group will meet for the second time tomorrow. During the previous amnesty, after the Dunblane massacre in 1996, 23,000 firearms and 700,000 rounds of ammunition were surrendered.

David Blunkett, the Home Secretary, told MPs yesterday that the amnesty had been a "substantial success", as weapons and ammunition that could otherwise be used in crime taken out of circulation.

Mark Field, Tory MP for Cities of London and Westminster, said the amnesty had been an "abject failure" in parts of London and more officers were what was needed.

But Mr Blunkett said: "Let us rejoice in what we are achieving rather than continually belittling progress that is being made."

© 2003 Independent Digital (UK) Ltd