Antique Handed in During Liverpool Weapon Amnesty

Police in Liverpool were stunned by the response to a recent guns amnesty, after more than 100 guns and 2,000 rounds of ammunition were handed in by their owners.

Merseyside Police were overwhelmed by the response during the two-week amnesty. Some 126 potentially lethal weapons, including sawn-off rifles, were handed in, along with 41 handguns, pistols and shotguns and 2,600 rounds of ammunition.

Twenty lots of ammunition, including cartridges, bullets and shotgun shells, 26 air guns and 24 imitation or deactivated weapons were also handed in.

Knives, laser pens and nail guns were also handed in.

Twelve of the weapons are being analysed by forensic experts to see if they are linked to crimes.

The rest of the weapons, including air guns and ultra-realistic imitation firearms, will be destroyed.

One of the guns weapons handed over was a 100-year-old Smith & Wesson .45 revolver – a similar weapon to that used in the murder of schoolboy Rhys Jones in 2008.

Detective Chief Inspector Tom Keaton, from the force's anti-gun Matrix unit, told the Liverpool Echo: "Some of the firearms date back to World War I and beyond. We had widows whose husbands had died and had these old weapons stored in their lofts.

"They may be old, but if they're fired they are capable of killing. All it would take is one burglary for a gun to be stolen and end up in criminal hands.

"So every weapon handed in is one less which could potentially be used on our streets. The removal of these firearms from the homes of normal citizens is a blow to crime groups who operate on Merseyside."