Deadly weapons handed in during firearms surrender
In all 116 pistols, rifles and shotguns were handed in to West Midlands Police, much of it lethal weaponry
Deadly weaponry and hundreds of rounds of live ammunition have been handed in during a firearms surrender.
The haul of 116 pistols, rifles and shotguns was voluntarily handed over at collection points across the West Midlands in a three-week period.
West Midlands Police organised the surrender during a lethal spike in violence and gun crime.
Across the region there were two fatal shootings and at least seven gun discharges, leaving four other people injured, between May 12 and the beginning as June.
In the same period, there were 12 knife attacks, including two fatal stabbings of teenagers in separate incidents in Birmingham and Wolverhampton.
Latest figures by the Office for National Statistics showed there were 13 gun offences per 100,000 residents in the West Midlands, with the national average sitting at 11.
Also handed over were batches of Second World War-era .303 Lee Enfield rifle rounds, shotgun cartridges, and hollow-point .22 ammunition – all of it lethal in the wrong hands.
Among the more unusual items surrendered was a long-barrelled parlour gun, favoured by gentlemen and popular on indoor firing ranges at the turn of the last century, and two rusting wartime flare guns.
Also among the weaponry now being catalogued and examined by police experts were sawn-off shotguns.
The weaponry will all be first scrutinised to see if it can be linked to any crimes, and then safely destroyed at a secure site.
The force also stressed it was also tackling the criminals willing to use such deadly weaponry with proactive patrols, seizures and house searches based on intelligence.
Officers have been carrying out so-called Section 60 stops and searches in the east of Birmingham recently and have recovered knives, machetes and other weaponry.
“We are continuing our crackdown on violent crime using Section 60 powers, which allow us to stop and search anyone we think may be involved in criminality and violence.
“We regularly carry out weapon sweeps and warrants, with two handguns recovered in Quinton, Birmingham, just last week.
“And we are continuing our work with young people who may be on the cusp of becoming involved in gang culture through our Precious Lives project where thousands of schoolchildren have seen a hard-hitting presentation on the dangers of carrying weapons.”
“Every weapon handed in is potentially a life saved. The region is a safer place with these weapons no longer on the streets, as there is always the potential they could fall into the wrong hands.”
