Members of the public urged to hand in guns and knives at Harrogate Police Station

People up and down the country are urged to hand in unwanted guns with a two week surrender of firearms and ammunition, starting today (May 12) until Sunday, May 29.

Surrendering unwanted, unlicensed and illegal weapons avoids the risk of people becoming involved in criminality and means that members of the community can dispose of firearms in a safe place.

The surrender gives people the chance to dispose of firearms or ammunition anonymously and without facing prosecution by simply taking them to a local police station and handing them over.

During the surrender, North Yorkshire Police want people to hand in:

- Illegally-held guns and ammunition

- Imitation firearms and air guns

- Other unwanted guns and ammunition including air guns and imitations

- Tasers, stun guns, CS gas, etc.

- Firearms you may have been asked to hide for someone else

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Between May 12 and 29, weapons can be handed in to front counter staff at the following police stations: Harrogate, York, Scarborough, Malton, Skipton, Selby, Northallerton and Richmond.

If someone is unable to travel or have concerns about transporting a firearm to a police station, they should contact the police via 101 to seek advice.

In addition to the firearms surrender, Operation Sceptre will run from 16 May to 22 May.

Operation Sceptre is a coordinated week of activity where police forces across the country help keep knives off the streets and deter people from carrying them, and through information and intelligence, proactively target knife related offences.

As part of this activity, members of the public are encouraged to dispose of any unwanted knives in the provided knife amnesty bins, which will be at Harrogate, York, Scarborough, Malton, Skipton, Selby Northallerton and Richmond police stations between 16 and 22 May.

Elliot Foskett, Assistant Chief Constable, said: “That’s why we are totally committed to taking as many items which could be used as weapons off our streets as possible, ensuring our communities are as safe from harm as possible because we want North Yorkshire to remain the safest place to live and work.

“I want people to take advantage of this campaign and know they are disposing of a potentially dangerous item in the safest way possible, without getting into any trouble.

"It’s a chance to do the right thing and a chance to potentially save a life."

North Yorkshire Police would also like to remind people about the changes to the Offensive Weapons Act 2019 which now means it is an offence to possess certain items such as knuckledusters, throwing stars and zombie knives, even in private.

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