GMP’s Firearms Licensing Unit engage with registered dealers and gun clubs to recover blank-firing weapons
Greater Manchester Police's Firearms Licensing Unit has been engaging with registered firearms dealers and gun clubs to recover blank-firing weapons ahead of a national amnesty. The initiative, which started in November 2024, has seen 18 firearms surrendered. The weapons, including models Retay, Ekol, Ceonic ISSC, and Blow, are now illegal due to their convertibility. The amnesty runs until 28 February 2025, allowing voluntary surrenders without prosecution.
Greater Manchester Police Launch Proactive Firearms Amnesty
A national firearms amnesty targeting Turkish-made Top-Venting Blank-Firing (TVBF) weapons began on Monday, 3 February 2025, and will run through Friday, 28 February 2025. Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said its Firearms Licensing Unit began reaching out to the region’s 40 registered firearms dealers and more than 20 gun clubs in November 2024—weeks before the official start—to alert them that the once-legal Retay, Ekol, Ceonic ISSC and Blow models are now classed as easily convertible prohibited weapons under National Crime Agency guidance.
The early engagement has already produced results: 18 blank-firing guns have been voluntarily surrendered by retailers, while a single customer handed six units to a dealer for destruction and transfer to GMP. Officers stress the initiative is part of routine licensing work rather than a one-off drive, and they continue to collect weapons daily.
Firearms & Explosives Licensing Manager Simon Akker, Serious Crime Division, warned that blank-firers “can be illegally modified into viable and dangerous firearms” and have already been recovered from criminals nationwide. He urged anyone still holding the specified models to surrender them before the 28 February deadline to avoid prosecution.
Drop-off points and opening times are listed on the GMP website.
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