More than 60 'potentially lethal' firearms taken off West Midlands streets in one month during national gun amnesty

The seizure comes following a national gun amnesty where the public was asked to hand in specific brands of Turkish-made, top-venting handguns (TVBF)

Sixty-two potentially lethal firearms were handed into West Midlands Police stations over February, with all the weapons being made safe by officers to be destroyed.

The national gun amnesty relates to four brands of TVBF, which were found by the National Crime Agency and their police colleagues to be readily convertible into viable weapons. 

The brands, Retay, Ceonic and Blow - are now considered by the force to be illegal, like any other firearm. 

The amnesty allowed owners of the firearms the opportunity to hand in any TVBFs to help them avoid prosecution, and the weapons from getting into the wrong hands. 

During the amnesty period, those handing the weapons in did not have to give their details and did not face sanctions. 

Detective chief inspector Alastair Orencas said: "I am grateful to the public for their support with this amnesty and for the hard work of our teams involved in it. 

"It’s good news that we have taken so many of these weapons off the streets of the West Midlands and shows why these blank-firers must no longer be kept under any circumstances.

"Thankfully gun crime in our region is rare but being part of this amnesty has meant fewer weapons will end up in the wrong hands."

In their original state, the TVBFs have fully-blocked barrels, and painted surfaces, and are designed to discharge only blank cartridges.

However, criminals may paint them black so they look like original lethal-purpose firearms, as well as convert them to fully functioning firearms. 

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