THOUSANDS of illegally owned weapons are expected to be handed to British police in a nationwide amnesty launched in the wake of the Dunblane massacre.
The 28 day amnesty, which yesterday, allows anyone to in a firearm anonymously and fear of prosecution, provided it has not been used for crime.
The weapons will then be, down.
The British Prime Minister, Mr Major, announced the amnesty in March after Thomas Hamilton shot dead 16 schoolchildren and their teacher in the Scottish town of Dunblane.
"I think every gun that we can take out of circulation we ought to take out of circulation. Every gun has the potential to kill and there are a lot of guns lying around in people's homes which should not be there," the Home Secretary, Mr Michael Howard, said.
Normally, Britons found in possession of illegal firearms face sentences of up to 10 years in prison and heavy fines. About 800,000 firearms certificates, which must be renewed annually, are issued every year but police estimate there are currently around three million guns in circulation in Britain.
Guns, ammunition, CS gas and pepper sprays are all covered by the amnesty.
. The killer responsible for the Dunblane massacre was a "weirdo" who stroked his guns like babies, the official inquiry heard yesterday.
A local gun club secretary, Mr William Campbell, said he and his cousin had driven Hamilton to a gun club meeting just days before the massacre.
"That is a right weirdo," his cousin said after they left Hamilton. "My cousin said he talked about guns as if they were babies. That is what he lived for," Mr Campbell told the inquiry. The cousin noticed that Hamilton sat stroking his guns.