Shropshire Star

More than 100 firearms handed over to police in amnesty

More than 100 firearms were handed in to police during an amnesty by police.

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Dyfed-Powys Police said it was pleased with the response to the 12-day amnesty which saw a variety of weapons including handguns, shotguns, air rifles and revolvers handed in.

It comes as West Mercia Police said 119 guns were handed in in Shrewsbury and Telford as part of the same scheme.

Dyfed-Powys Police Chief Inspector Ieuan Matthews said he was pleased with the success of the operation.

He said: "Dyfed Powys Police gave people the chance to give up any real, fake, toy or antique guns or ammunition during a 12-day operation.

"It was held to encourage anyone holding an illegally-held firearm to dispose of it safely. It also gave licence holders the opportunity to surrender weapons they no longer had use for.

"A variety of firearms were surrendered during the campaign including handguns, rifles, shotguns, air weapons, revolvers and humane killers as well as a large amount of ammunition.

"We are extremely pleased at the success of this firearms surrender and would like to thank everyone who took part. The aim of the surrender was to give people the chance to hand in any firearms, whether they were real, fake, antique or fully licensed, and the response we had was fantastic

"We want to keep our communities safe, and by removing these guns and ammunition with the assistance of the public, we are doing just that

"I would like to remind residents of Wales, that our communities are a safe place to live and thankfully gun crime is not a part of everyday life in the streets of Dyfed-Powys."

Following West Mercia's campaign, Superintendent Charles Hill said all of the weapons had now been made safe and most would be taken away to be cut up and melted down.

Rare weapons or those with historical value could be donated to museums, he added.

He said: "We have been overwhelmed by the public response to this campaign and we'd like to thank every person who has taken this opportunity to surrender a firearm for us to dispose of safely.

"It is great to see that there are so many people as committed as we are to making our region even safer and protecting people from harm.

"We're fortunate not to have a major gun crime problem in the region." but we do have a large number of legally owned firearms and other older firearms in people's possession and unfortunately these sometimes fall into the wrong hands and end up being used in crime. Every single one of these weapons handed in is one less opportunity for this to happen."

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