Month-long amnesty across Teesside to curb circulation of illegal convertible firearms

Across February, Cleveland Police will be joining forces in England and Wales alongside the National Crime Agency (NCA) as part of a campaign supporting the amnesty of illegal firearms.

The aim of the four-week initiative is to remove Turkish Top-Venting Blank-Firing (TVBF) firearms from our streets to prevent them from being used in criminal circles. 

Between Monday 3 February until Friday 28 February officers are asking people to hand in any TVBFs and do so without facing prosecution.

In their original state, TVBFs have a fully blocked barrel and are designed to discharge only blank cartridges. However, recent testing conducted by the NCA has found that many criminals have been painting the typically bright-coloured weapons black, imitating lethal firearms. As well as this, it has been discovered that these weapons can be easily converted using household tools to dispense lethal cartridges.

Firearms legislation has not changed, these weapons are illegal to own under the Firearms Act 1968. The specific Turkish firearms soon to be made illegal are models with the brand names Retay, Ekol, Ceonic and Blow.

Since 2021, UK law enforcement has recovered more than 800 converted blank firers, with further research finding at least four were used in homicides in the UK during the last two years.

Firearms can be handed to the four main Cleveland Police helpdesks across the county, which are all open Monday to Friday between 8am and 8pm. Please contact 101 prior to visiting the station to be provided with the correct advice on how to package the weapon.

• Hartlepool Police Station, Avenue Road, Hartlepool TS24 8AJ
• Middlesbrough Police Station, Bridge Street West, Middlesbrough, TS2 1AB
• Redcar and Cleveland Police Station, Troisdorf Way, Redcar, TS10 5AP
• Stockton Police Station, Thistle Green, Stockton-on-Tees, TS18 1TZ

Detective Chief Inspector David Glass, who is leading the firearms amnesty operation in Teesside, said: “Being part of this national campaign enables members of the public to surrender top-venting blank firers manufactured by Blow, Ceonic, Ekol and Retay and helping to prevent them falling into the wrong hands and being used by criminals.

“Many TVBFs may be held in innocence and ignorance of their illegality or may be overlooked or forgotten in their homes. The amnesty gives people the chance to dispose of the TVBFs safely by taking them to a local helpdesk and handing them in.

“I encourage anyone in possession of one to get in touch and visit their local police station. I would also like to reiterate, that anyone who does choose to hand in a TVBF during the amnesty period, will not face prosecution. You can also choose to do this anonymously, so there is no excuse for not disposing of this kind of firearm.

“The danger that comes with a firearm should go without saying, so please take this opportunity to protect your community by removing them from circulation and safely handing them into a police station.”