Blank-firing gun amnesty begins today

A national amnesty for top-venting blank firing (TVBF) guns begins today with police saying nobody will be prosecuted for handing them in.

Manufactured in Turkey, the imitation handguns are capable of being converted to fire live rounds, which makes them illegal in the UK. 

GMP claims that repurposed TVBFs have been used in at least four murders in the country, as well as other serious incidents. 

The amnesty runs from Monday February 3 until Friday February 28 on arms made by Retay, Ekol, Ceonic ISSC and Blow, and only applies to unconverted weapons. 

However, anybody caught with one after the end of the month will face prosecution and up to ten years in prison. 

Detective Superintendent Joe Harrop, GMP's lead in recovering firearms said: “In Greater Manchester, we haven’t had many incidents involving TVBF, but it’s always a possibility, like with any firearm, these could end up in the wrong hands and cause serious harm to individuals or communities. 

“We have already done some engagement work with the registered firearms dealers based in Greater Manchester ahead of this amnesty starting, but now, we come to the public to ask that anyone who is an owner of these brands of blank firers surrenders them immediately. 

“As soon as the amnesty ends, anyone who still owns one of these firearms could be facing up to ten years in prison.  

“We have been relentless in our work to reduce the number of firearms discharges across Greater Manchester and seized a record number of criminally used firearms last year; our approach into 2025 remains exactly the same.” 

People can hand in unconverted TVBFs to police station front desks across the city region, with GMP advising that the guns are transported in a bag or box, that the trip is specifically to hand in a weapon, and that the desk sergeant is made aware upon arrival. 

Police estimate 10,000 TVBFs are in circulation.