Gun amnesty ended, police collect hundreds of weapons

ONTARIO PROVINCIAL POLICE AND its municipal law enforcement partners received and rendered safe hundreds of weapons and thousands of rounds of ammunition during a monthlong gun amnesty in April, police report.

The OPP received 592 gun amnesty calls for service, 86 of which (or 14.5 per cent) were received through the online reporting option on the OPP website. They recovered 689 items through appointments made with OPP officers including 267 rifles, 156 shotguns, 113 prohibited firearms, and 62 other guns such as replica and vintage weapons. Some 12,615 pieces of ammunition were collected.

All Ontario police services participated in the month-long initiative. During that time, a total of 1,503 guns were voluntarily surrendered in non-OPP jurisdictions.

A majority of firearms that have been surrendered to police will be destroyed, but a number of guns will be retained for historical, educational or training purposes. Although the gun amnesty has officially ended, police will continue to accept submissions from the public. Interested gun owners may call the OPP at 1-888-310-1122 or their local police service’s nonemergency lines to arrange for officers to attend and safely retrieve the weapons.

Police continue to encourage members of the public to turn in unwanted weapons despite the conclusion of this initiative. Police retain the ability to exercise discretion (amnesty) regarding weapons related charges at all times, not just during this month long event. The public is reminded that no one should ever deliver guns, ammunition or military ordinance directly to police facilities.