Amnesty To Take Lethal Convertible Guns Off Streets

Leicestershire and Northamptonshire Police are holding a month-long firearms amnesty over concerns about the potentially lethal risk posed by a type of blank firing gun.

Anyone in possession of Turkish-made ‘top-venting blank firers’ or ‘TVBFs’ can surrender them at Police stations including in Market Harborough, with no questions asked.

The guns are now illegal following an increasing number being converted and then used in serious violence and anyone found with one faces a prison sentence of up to 10 years.

In their normal state, the guns have historically been used to start races and as props for re-enactments.

Since 2021, UK law enforcement has recovered more than 800 of the guns in criminal circumstances, and converted blank firers have been used in at least four homicides in the UK in the last two years.  

Detective Inspector, James White from Leicestershire Police said: “Gun crime in the Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland remains very rare but we are not complacent, which is why we are conducting the Turkish Top-Venting Firearms Amnesty after tests have shown they can be readily converted into firearms, therefore making them illegal to possess.  

“Surrendering top-venting blank firers manufactured by Blow, Ceonic, Ekol and Retay now will help prevent them getting into the wrong hands in the future and being used by criminals.

“We want as many top-venting blank firers as possible to be handed in and I encourage anyone in possession of one to visit their local police station to hand them 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.”