Police forces across the UK are appealing for people to hand over any unwanted guns with a two week surrender of firearms and ammunition, as part of a national campaign starting on Monday 13 November 2017.

States of Jersey Police are supporting this campaign, named Operation Aztec, and are also appealing to the public to surrender any unlawfully held or unwanted guns and ammunition that they may have.

Many firearms are held in innocence and ignorance of their illegality or are overlooked and forgotten in people’s homes, these firearms can be in danger of falling into the wrong hands. This surrender gives members of the public the chance to dispose of a firearm or any ammunition safely and without fear of prosecution.

Anyone wishing to surrender firearms or ammunition can call us on 612612 at any time during these two weeks and we will make an appointment to come and collect the items safely.

Head of Firearms, Chief Inspector Chris Beechey said: “If anyone is in possession of an unwanted or unlicensed firearm this campaign is the perfect opportunity to surrender them. We just want more guns out of harm’s way.

“You may have inherited one or simply found one in your loft or shed that you had forgotten about. You can now hand these in knowing that you have disposed of them safely and you can do this without fear of prosecution for illegal possession, at the point of surrender.”

The surrender initiative is being led by the National Ballistics Intelligence Service (NABIS) and the surrender will run for two weeks from Monday 13 November to Sunday 26 November 2017 and we will share our results with them.

During the last national firearms surrender in 2014 more than 6,000 items were handed in to police in the UK. These included hand guns, rifles, shotguns, antique (obsolete calibre) guns and imitation firearms, as well as ammunition.

If you know of anyone involved with illegal firearms call us on 612612 or Crimestoppers (anonymously) on 0800 555 111.