§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Caroline Flint)I have today placed in the Libraries of both Houses details of what was handed in to police forces during the recent firearms amnesty (31 March to 30 April).
32WSA total of 43,908 guns and 1,039,358 rounds of ammunition were handed in. This compares to 22,939 guns and 695,197 rounds of ammunition during the previous amnesty in June 1996.
I am particularly pleased to see the high volume of hand-ins of all types of gun and ammunition. The amnesty was a great success and these items are no longer at risk of falling into the hands of criminals.
The guns figure includes 6,529 prohibited firearms (including 5,734 handguns), 10,513 shot guns, 13,974 air weapons, 9,480 imitations and 3,412 assorted rifles and other guns. In addition, a total of 7,093 other weapons, including knives, swords and crossbows, were handed in.