Hampshire residents encouraged by police to surrender all firearms and ammunition in a bid to 'protect the public'

Hampshire police is holding a two-week surrender of firearms and ammunition starting tomorrow (May 12) through to May 29.

During that period, those surrendering firearms will not face prosecution for the illegal possession at the point of surrender and they can remain anonymous.

However, the history of each live firearm will be checked for evidence of its use in crime.

Wanted firearms include:

• Guns which can still be fired

• Antique or unwanted collectible weapons

• Trophies of war

• Replica weapons

• Air weapons

• BB guns

• Stun guns

Outside of the surrender period if police find you in possession of a firearm for which you do not have a licence then you could receive a mandatory five-year prison sentence.

Detective chief inspector Dave Storey said: ‘We can be proud that gun crime in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight remains low and thankfully very rare.

‘However, we are not complacent about gun crime, tackling serious violence is a force priority and a firearms surrender works towards preventing crime and protecting the public; we want as many guns as possible to be handed in.

‘Together with our partners we continually work hard to educate people about firearms and the dangers that come with them, to ensure that gun crime doesn’t become prevalent in the future.

‘If you have even a shadow of doubt about the legality of a weapon or ammunition that you possess we urge you to hand it in during the surrender.’

Firearms and ammunition can be surrendered at all front offices based in Basingstoke, Portsmouth, Southampton and Newport on the Isle of Wight.

To receive advice on how best to transport the weapon responsibly from home to the police station phone 101 before travelling.

If you know of people involved in illegal firearms activity call the police on 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

DCI Storey added: ‘Every call to Crimestoppers is anonymous and potentially vital to preventing or solving serious crimes; removing an illegally held firearm may just save someone’s life.’