West Mercia Police: Surrender your weapons without fear of prosecution

A firearms 'surrender' scheme will be launched this month for people to hand over weapons to the police without fear of prosecution.

Anyone who owns a weapon will be given the opportunity to surrender it to police as part of efforts to keep weapons off our streets.

The countrywide scheme is open from Thursday 12 to Sunday 29 May and gives owners of weapons the opportunity to hand them over.

The scheme is part of ongoing work to prevent guns and ammunition being used for criminal activity.

This campaign does not affect those with legally-held firearms and officers continue to ensure licensed firearms can be used safely.

People who own illegal offensive weapons – such as rapid firing rifles and specific type of knives – and ammunition are urged to hand them over to front counters at the following police stations:

• Worcester
• Kidderminster
• Redditch
• Telford
• Hereford
• Shrewsbury

If the station is closed when you arrive, please call 999 and wait for a specialist officer to arrive. Never leave firearms unattended.

Chief Inspector Sarah Corteen said: “Thankfully gun crime is not a significant issue in West Mercia but we will continue to work hard to keep weapons out of our communities.

“We work closely with our partners and the public and it is vital we reduce opportunities for weapons and ammunition to be used in criminal activity.

“Some people of course have a legitimate reason to own a firearm and we continue to ensure licensed firearms can be used appropriately and safely.

“But previous campaigns have demonstrated that others own unregistered firearms and while they may not be being used, they do have potential to fall into the wrong hands.

“Every gun given up is one fewer that criminals could use.”

If you have information about someone you suspect to be in possession of an illegal weapon, you can contact West Mercia Police by calling 101 or visiting https://www.westmercia.police.uk/ro/report/.

Any information received is always dealt with in the strictest confidence.

Alternatively, if you have information but don’t want to speak to police, then you can contact the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or by visiting Crimestoppers-UK.org They are 100% anonymous and totally independent of the police. They never ask your name, they cannot trace your call or IP address and no one ever knows that you’ve passed on information.