A recent nation-wide firearms surrender has resulted in more than 100 weapons being handed into police and out of communities across Cumbria.
A four-week amnesty, which was conducted throughout February, was aimed at owners of certain Turkish manufactured top-venting blank firers (TVBFs) which had recently been made illegal to possess following testing by the National Crime Agency and policing.
Cumbria recorded the second highest number of weapons handed in, per police force area, during the surrender operation with 110 weapons removed from communities.
Chief Superintendent Carl Patrick said: “We are pleased that over a hundred weapons have been removed from our communities here in Cumbria, which undoubtedly makes the county an even safer place.
“As we have seen during other weapon surrender operations, many of the items handed in by the public will have been held innocently or a lack of awareness of their legality.
“What is positive is that people have once again taken action to hand weapons in and make Cumbria safer. I would like to thank all those who handed items in.
“Whilst gun crime in Cumbria is rare, we are not complacent and we will continue to take part in such surrender periods to further increase public safety.”
Cumbria’s Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner, David Allen, said: “I want to thank everyone that handed in a weapon during this amnesty.
“We need to be vigilant and every weapon we can take off the streets means there’s one less weapon likely to be used in a crime.
“It is not solely the responsibility of the police to keep our streets safe – we all need to play a part to ensure Cumbria continues to be a safe place to live, work and visit.
“Let’s work together to protect Cumbria.”
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