Guns amnesty in N. England to take weapons off streets

A two-week long amnesty began on Monday enabling people in northwest England to hand over their guns to police with no questions asked.

Illegal possession of guns and firearms in Britain carries a heavy fine and long spell in prison.

From 7 a.m. local time guns can be handed in to police in Manchester, Liverpool, Lancashire and Cheshire with a guarantee of no action being taken.

The move came just days after an announcement that 1,500 children, some aged only 10, across England and Wales were arrested in the past three years on gun and firearms charges.

A similar amnesty two years ago yielded an arsenal of hundreds of guns and weapons and thousands of rounds of ammunition.

Then 126 weapons were handed in to police in the Liverpool area, 103 in Greater Manchester and more than 100 in Lancashire county. An earlier amnesty in Cheshire county led to 339 guns and weapons being surrendered.

The amnesty will end at midnight on April 18 after which tough police action will be taken against any person possessing a gun or weapon.

"Surrendering unwanted, unlicensed weapons avoids the risk of them becoming involved in criminality and means that members of the community can dispose of firearms in a safe place," a statement issued by the four police forces said.

"One weapon off the streets is one less that can be used to harm or threaten our communities," it added. Enditem