Four-week blank-firing gun amnesty underway in Sussex
People caught with them after February 28th risk prosecution
Last updated 3rd Feb 2025
Sussex Police are urging people to hand in blank firing guns, that are being converted to fire deadly ammunition, as part of a four-week amnesty which starts on Monday (February 3rd).
Turkish manufactured top-venting blank firers are now illegal to possess after testing by the National Crime Agency and policing.
Anyone found with the weapon after February 28th could be jailed for up to ten years.
They are being banned because tests show they are being converted into weapons that can severely injure or kill.
In their original state, TVBFs have a fully blocked barrel and are designed to discharge only blank cartridges.
When they are discharged, combustion gases vent from the top of the weapon.
They are sold with at least 50% of their visible surface painted a bright colour, but criminals are converting them into lethal firearms and also painting them black so they look like an original lethal weapon.
More than 800 of the guns have been recovered in criminal circumstances and they have been used to kill four people in the UK in the last two years.
Chief Inspector Kara Tombling from the Surrey Police and Sussex Police Firearms and Explosive Licensing Unit said:
"Gun crime in Surrey and Sussex remains very rare but we are not complacent about it, which is why we are taking part in this national campaign.
"We welcome the change in categorisation of these weapons that will allow us to remove these potentially lethal weapons from our streets, and I encourage anyone in possession of a TVBF to visit their nearest designated police station to hand them in."
Assistant Chief Constable Tim Metcalfe, National Police Chiefs' Council Lead for the Criminal Use of Firearms, said:
"The top-venting blank firers are used by criminals and can be converted into lethal firearms. During the last two years, policing and the NCA has identified and disrupted several workshops used to convert these pistols into lethal weapons.
"In the same period, large numbers of converted weapons were recovered across multiple locations, alongside thousands of rounds of blank calibre and modified ammunition."
"One investigation recovered more than 400 converted weapons from a single crime group. There is a strong demand for them evidenced by the numbers imported and subsequent recovery from criminals.
"Stopping the sale of these top-venting blank firers from being converted will go a significant way to help protect the public."
They can be handed in to seven police stations across Sussex over the next four weeks.
Anyone handing in the weapon is asked to wrap it securely in a sealed bag or box.
The addresses of police locations where these firearms can be handed are:
West Sussex
Chichester Police Station, Kingsham Road, Chichester, PO19 8AD (open Monday-Saturday 9am- 5pm)
Crawley Police Station, Northgate Avenue, Crawley, RH10 8BF (open Monday-Saturday 9am- 5pm)
Worthing Police Station, Chatsworth Road, Worthing, BN11 1LY (open Monday-Saturday 9am- 5pm)
Brighton
Brighton Police Station, John Street, Brighton and Hove, BN2 0LA (open Monday-Sunday 8am-8pm)
East Sussex
Eastbourne Customer Contact Point, Grove Road, Eastbourne, BN21 4TL (open Monday-Saturday 9am- 5pm)
Uckfield Police Station, New Town, Uckfield, TN22 5DL (open Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday 10am – 2pm)
Hastings Police Station, Bohemia Road, Hastings, TN34 1JJ (open Monday–Saturday 9am-5pm)