A machine gun and a high-powered hunting rifle were among 150 firearms and more than 500 rounds of ammunition surrendered to island police during a recent weapons amnesty.

Among the items handed in were viable handguns, a CS gas gun capable of deploying irritant spray, crossbows, air rifles and shotguns.

Others surrendered include a double-barrelled shotgun, a deactivated AK-47, an Uzi and a Mini Uzi, as well as a viable high-powered hunting rifle. A total of 84 bladed articles were also handed in.

The amnesty, which ran until February 2, was aimed at improving public safety by removing illegal, unwanted or potentially dangerous weapons and ammunition from circulation, while police stressed that the initiative was not about targeting individuals or implying that surrendered items have been used in criminal activity.

Instead, the amnesty served to provide a safe and lawful way for people to hand in firearms, weapons or ammunition they no longer wished to keep.

Cadre Tactical Firearms Commander Elliot Butler said the amnesty was timed to coincide with the island’s triennial firearms licensing renewal period.

The scheme operated under an immunity from prosecution granted by the Attorney General for the period of possession while individuals brought weapons to Police Headquarters in Douglas or other police stations in Ramsey, Peel and Castletown.

‘The amnesty is designed to allow people to bring firearms or other weapons into a station without fear of potential prosecution at the time of handing them in,’ Inspector Butler commented.

‘The idea behind that is people may well have found the weapons and they don't really know what to do with them, while worrying they’re going to get into trouble.

‘It also allowed people who do hold a firearms licence, but no longer want their weapons, an opportunity to get rid of those firearms.

‘If people have got these firearms in the house not knowing what to do with them, there's a risk they could fall into criminal hands in the future.

‘It gives people an opportunity to do the right thing.’

Police said many of the weapons handed in were discovered during house clearances, often after the death of a relative. In some cases, families found historic firearms, such as service pistols dating back to the First or Second World War that had been kept for decades.

Inspector Butler noted that even deactivated or imitation firearms can present risks.

‘If someone is walking down the street with one of those, you don’t know whether that’s real or not, and it’s the same for responding officers,’ he said. ‘By getting them off the street and preventing them falling into the hands of criminals in the future, it makes everybody safer.’

Each amnesty since 2019 has resulted in an increase in firearms being handed in, with the police describing this trend as being ‘more reassuring than alarming’.

‘We’re not immune from potential gun crime or knife crime,’ Inspector Butler added. ‘We have a lower risk, but that doesn’t mean there’s no risk.

‘By people feeling confident enough to hand items in, it helps keep that risk low.’