Greater Manchester Police is urging realistic imitation firearm and air gun owners to hand them in at a police station this month and help make our streets safer.
Ownership of these guns has grown over the last few years and carrying them in a public place can cause alarm and fear. They can also get into criminal hands and be used to intimidate and frighten victims of crime.
Reports of people carrying, what looks like real guns, can lead to the police’s firearms unit being called out. Officers are trained to treat all sightings of firearms as the real thing as it is almost impossible to distinguish between replica and real firearms.
Carrying what looks like a real gun can also greatly increase your chances of being injured or killed by the real thing. Though crimes featuring guns account for only 0.3 per cent of all crime in Greater Manchester they create disproportionately high feelings of fear in communities.
Police welcome the opportunity to remove imitation and air guns as they estimate that in 80 per cent of crimes featuring guns, they are used to frighten, intimidate and strike people but are not fired. Police believe in many cases they could be imitations.
Carrying imitation firearms in a public place without authority is illegal and could lead to six months in prison.
Recent legislation aimed at curbing the ownership of firearms makes it illegal to sell, manufacture or import any realistic imitation firearm. It also prohibits the sale or transfer of air weapons unless registered with the police as a firearms dealer.
Imitation firearms, air weapons and ball bearing (BB) guns can be handed in at all police stations with a counter service in Greater Manchester during opening hours between Monday 3 and 31 of March 2008.
Wherever possible guns handed in will be recycled and proceeds donated to charity to help fund projects in war-torn communities around the world.
Detective Chief Inspector John Lyons said: “There are very few people in this country who have good reason to own or carry a firearm.
“If you have an imitation firearm, an air weapon or a BB gun we want you to seriously consider whether you really need it. Think about the danger it represents to you and anyone who comes into contact with it and the problems it could create if the police found it in your possession.
“Handing it in to your local police station only takes a few minutes and will relieve you of all this stress and possible problems in the future. Encourage anyone you know who has a gun to do the same – and do it as soon as possible - and help make Greater Manchester a safer place for everyone.”
