Metropolitan Police are launching a no questions asked two-week firearms surrender campaign on Monday (Nov 23).
Police are urging Londoners to give up their firearms, imitation weapons or ammunition, by handing them into a local 24-hour police station – for which an online map has been published.
To coincide, a social media campaign will use images of guns giving people #secondstodecide whether they are real or fake, to highlight how realistic imitations weapons can appear.
During the surrender which will run from Monday at 7am to 11pm on Sunday December 6, people will not face prosecution for illegal possession and can remain anonymous.
Each live weapon handed in will be assessed by firearms officers, with some weapons being forensically checked for evidence.
Detective Superintendent Stephen Clayman, of the Trident and Area Crime Command, said: "We are asking Londoners to hand in firearms and imitation weapons to avoid them falling into the wrong hands.
“In an inappropriate setting, imitation weapons will cause fear and panic, and could lead to a police response involving the deployment of armed police officers, with potentially tragic results.
“Using an imitation firearm inappropriately may lead to a conviction for a serious criminal offence.
“The tragic events in Paris have inevitably led to a heightened state of alert on the capital’s streets.
“Gun crime, whilst low in London compared with other world cities, has a devastating impact on communities.
“Trident is committed to ridding the capital’s streets of firearms, and last year Met officers recovered over 600 ‘lethal barrelled’ firearms."
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This year's campaign will give focus to BB guns and air weapons and the potential for these to be mistaken for genuine weapons.
Detective Chief Superintendent Joanne Chilton, Head of NABIS (National Ballastics Intelligence Service), said: "Gun surrenders provide an important opportunity for people to hand firearms over to police to prevent them falling into the hands of criminals and endangering the public.
"We are pleased that the Metropolitan Police Service is running this operation and we hope as many people as possible take this opportunity to surrender their guns."
Last year, the Met carried out its first firearms surrender in six years and during the two-week campaign more than 350 firearms and 12,300 rounds of ammunition were handed in.
If you have any information regarding gun or gang crime call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or access a secure online form via www.crimestoppers-uk.org
In an emergency always call 999.
