Anyone with an old unlicensed firearm stashed in an attic or even displayed proudly as a family heirloom must hand it over to police to be destroyed.
Merseyside Police today launched a two week gun surrender, ending December 6, after the Government changed the law meaning all antique weapons must now be licensed.
The new legislation applies to all firearms manufactured before September 1, 1939, which before September this year did not require a licence.
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Detective Chief Superintendent Mark Kameen, Merseyside Police's head of investigations, told the ECHO the force was keen to get the weapons off the streets before they could end up in the hands of violent criminals.
He said: "It's really difficult to estimate how many are out there because many of them will be handed down and probably won't ever have been registered.
"But we know they are out there, we know that in families, individuals will have weapons that have been given to them by other family members, either as curiosities or for sentimental value.
"We do recognise that some people find that difficult to part with those weapons, but what I'm saying to everybody is; if they fall into the wrong hands, one you lose that sentimental connection, and two we have got a weapon that's on the streets potentially being used in criminal acts.
"So I am asking our communities to dial 101, let us know about the weapon, we will send somebody out, make the weapons safe, and take it from you and dispose of it appropriately."
DCS Kameen said during the past two years 129 legally owned firearms had been stolen in burglaries across the north west, with so far only nine having been recovered leaving 120 in criminal hands.
He said: "What we're trying to do with this surrender is not add to that figure".
DCS Kameen said while he could not offer specific examples of antique firearms being used in shootings on the streets, he stressed those guns have been used in multiple other types of offending and many are capable of being fired.
He said: "What we do have is lots of offences taking place where weapons are seen, or the barrels of weapons are seen.
"It's not just around the fact they can be reactivated and used to fire ammunition, but also used in wider criminality; threatening people, used in robberies and such like.
"So the safest option here, for everybody concerned, is for our public and our community, is to absolutely support us in this continued fight against gun crime."
DCS Kameen said the Christmas period is traditionally linked with a rise in burglaries which risks guns been taken from households and used on the streets.
He said: "It's terrible enough to be burgled at any time but particularly at Christmas; but what we don't want is to exacerbate that further by then you're losing a family heirloom and also we then end up with a firearm back on the streets of Merseyside when actually it should be safely disposed of."
The force has seen considerable success over 2020 and this year so far in reducing shootings on the street, with shootings at a 20 year low in 2020 and reducing further this year.
Last year the force recorded 48 discharges, a 50% reduction year on year.
With six weeks of 2021 remaining, DCS Kameen revealed there had been 41 discharges so far.
DCS Kameen said: "Merseyside Police is hugely committed to tackling gun crime in this force.
"Indeed in the last three years we have seen the creation of a dedicated Firearms Investigation Team, and their work, coupled with that of the wider force, has seen our firearms discharges drop by over 50%, to the lowest it's ever been for 20 years last year, and actually this year it's even lower again.
"We have also seen our firearms recoveries go up in the last two years. We have seen our detection rate against gun crime rise significantly.
"We're doing absolutely everything we can to make sure that we take the fight to the criminals and this allows us to adopt a preventative approach which is the way the force is going with its policing priorities, in that rather than wait and try and deal with the fall out of a gun going into the wrong hands, we will prevent it ever falling in the wrong hands by having our communities work with us, and surrender those weapons."
Anyone with an antique firearm who wanted to keep it had until September this year to obtain a licence, although DCS Kameen said the force would look at potential licences on a case-by-case basis.
However he urged people to get the potentially deadly weapons disposed of by his officers rather than stick to the arduous conditions of a licence.
Addressing anyone with a sentimental attachment to an antique weapon, DCS Kameen added: We ask you to put this attachment to one side and look at the bigger picture – what if someone broke into your home and stole this and used it to harm someone else?
"What if a child accidentally managed to fire it and harm themselves? It is safer for everyone if you work with us and prevent an incident taking place by handing in your gun before it’s too late.
"Please do your part to protect your friends, family and neighbours."
Merseyside Police provided the following list of cartridges and any associated guns now requiring licences to be legally-held:
- .320 British (also known as .320 Revolver CF, short or long)
- .41 Colt (short or long)
- .44 Smith and Wesson Russian
- .442 Revolver (also known as .44 Webley)
- 9.4mm Dutch Revolver
- 10.6mm German Ordnance Revolver
- 11mm French Ordnance Revolver M1873 (Army)
Anyone with a firearm in their possession should call 101 and an appropriate officer will be sent to make the weapon safe and seize it.
For more information, visit the government's website here or Merseyside Police’s Firearms Licensing Team here.
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