Officers hope islanders will come forward with any unwanted or unlicensed weapons.

It follows the success of a similar initiative in the UK in April, which saw more than 40,000 weapons handed over to the police.

Inspector Mike Brown said it was not about catching criminals, but getting guns off the streets.

Pose threat

"There are no doubt a number of firearms, ammunition and other weapons out there that people no longer have a use for or have acquired through the sad death of a relative.

"The idea is to take those out of circulation," he said.

"They may not pose a threat at the moment, but you don't know what will happen in the future.