Police recover 130 firearms and ammunition following amnesty

Cumbria Constabulary recovered over a hundred firearms and ammunition during a county-wide national amnesty.

The amnesty ran from Monday 10^th November to Friday 21^st November. The aim of the amnesty was to provide an opportunity to hand in unwanted or unlawfully held firearms, replica firearms, air weapons, BB guns, imitation firearms, antique firearms, component parts and other ballistic items.

The surrender period was devised to enable those who held firearms and ammunition, without a valid certificate, to surrender those to the police. The amnesty also followed a change to firearm legislation.

The table below details the number of firearms and ammunition items surrendered:

Type	Number of items
Pistol	13
Shotgun	37
Air Weapon	36
Ammunition	11
Rifle	15
Revolver	2
Other	16
Total	130

Chief Inspector David Bosson said “We are really pleased with the number of firearms and ammunition that were handed in to police over the amnesty period. Every firearm or piece of ammunition that was recovered is one less firearm or ammunition that could fall into the hands of a person with criminal intentions.

“Many of the firearms and shotguns that were surrendered may have been correctly licensed but unwanted by their owners. The amnesty provided an opportunity for them to dispose safely of their items.

“The weapons that have been recovered will now be examined and a definitive classification will be determined. I’d like to thank members of the public who took part in the amnesty and by doing so they have made the county safer.”

Police & Crime Commissioner Richard Rhodes said “I would like to thank people for taking part in the firearms amnesty. It is important that we all work together to keep Cumbria as safe as possible.”

For further information on the changes to firearm licensing laws please visit https://www.gov.uk/firearms-licensing-police-guidance.

For specific enquiries in relation to possession of firearms and conditions of your licence you can contact the firearms licensing office on 0330 124 0941.