Kalashnikov AK-47 assault rifle handed to police during arms surrender

A Kalashnikov AK-47 assault rifle has been handed in to Kent Police as part of a firearms surrender.

The deactivated AK-47 was passed to officers on January 24 together with a magazine and some dummy rounds.

A total of 172 firearms and 3,857 rounds of ammunition were seized, including three Italian starting pistols and a Walther PPK blank firing replica pistol along with some blank rounds.

The surrender ran between Monday January 21 and Wednesday February 6, allowing people to hand over unwanted or illegally held weapons or ammunition.

Police officers obtained a range of interesting items as part of the initiative including shotguns, revolvers and rifles.

During the first day, officers received a Colt New Service .445 calibre revolver, a firearm forged in 1898, used by British and Commonwealth forces up until the end of the Second World War.

On January 22, 12 firearms were handed in at North Kent station, with three revolvers – a Hopkins and Allen, a Webley service revolver and a Colt revolver – all capable of firing.

The Webley .380 calibre service revolver was said to have been used in the First World War and may have been used in the Second World War.

Detective Chief Inspector Patrick Holmes said: “We had an excellent response to this year’s surrender.

“Many firearms are held innocently with owners unaware of their illegality, or are overlooked heirlooms forgotten in people’s homes.

“The initiative gave residents the chance to hand in unwanted firearms ensuring that they were safely removed off the streets and preventing them from being acquired and distributed by criminal networks.

“Every firearm off the streets is another weapon which has been prevented from being potentially used in criminal activity and potentially another life which has been saved, so I would like to thank all those residents who used the surrender as an opportunity to hand in their unwanted or illegally held firearms and ammunition.”