Amnesty for blank guns now classed as illegal

A four-week firearms amnesty is being held to urge owners of several types of gun which can be converted into lethal weapons to hand them over to police.

Officers have asked anyone in possession of one of five models of an Italian-manufactured top-venting blank firer (TVBF) to hand them in.

Anyone found with one of the guns could face a prison sentence of up to 10 years after they were deemed illegal.

However, West Yorkshire Police said people handing in them in before 27 February did not have to give their details and would not face prosecution.

The guns are not real live‑firing weapons in their original form but tests by the National Crime Agency (NCA) found they could easily be converted using basic tools to shoot live rounds, so they were made illegal.

The amnesty focuses on five particular models:

• 8mm PAK Bruni BBM Model 92 blank firing self-loading pistol

• 8mm PAK Bruni BBM New Police blank firing self-loading pistol

• 8mm PAK Bruni BBM Model 96 blank firing self-loading pistol

• 8mm PAK Bruni BBM Model 'GAP' blank firing self-loading pistol

• 380R (9mmK) PAK Bruni BBM ME Ranger single-action blank firing revolver

The force said the focus on Bruni TVBFs followed a similar amnesty held last year, which called on the public to hand in Turkish TVBFs.

With 3,500 Turkish models removed from circulation as a result, police said criminals quickly turned their attention to alternative models.

Supt Emma Cheney, head of Armed Policing at West Yorkshire Police, said: "We are determined to continue working to disrupt the national supply and criminal use of firearms and we want as many of these weapons as possible to be handed in to prevent them getting into the wrong hands in the future."

The force said people could hand in the weapons at a number of specific stations across the region but were urged to call 101 before travelling "to receive advice on how best to transport the weapon responsibly".

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