Greater Manchester criminals building lethal weapons in their front rooms
Police are growing increasingly worried about so called "Turkish-blanks" - which can be converted into viable pistols with just a few basic tools
Greater Manchester Police are becoming increasingly concerned about the number of criminals building lethal weapons in their front rooms.
The force say they are worried about so called "Turkish-blanks".
The blank-firing guns can be legally bought in dozens of shops in Greater Manchester, and can be converted into viable pistols very quickly, with just a few basic tools.
Earlier this week, one was found in a park in Salford.
Detective Superintendent Joe Harrop is in charge of Greater Manchester Police's Serious and Organised Crime unit: "It's very, very easy to convert to a lethal weapon. They are used in discharges., they are injuring people in Greater Manchester.
"They can be sold on for a couple of thousand pounds so they're lucrative and attractive to criminal groups. It does make criminal groups particularly dangerous."
The Detective Superintendent said it's worrying how easy they are to make: "Just household tools, think you'd have at home, a drill, basic DIY tools and you can convert it from a blank firer, into a lethal weapon in ten minutes.
A national amnesty will begin next week for owners of soon to be outlawed blank firing guns to hand them over to police.
Police forces across England and Wales will be holding a four-week Firearms Amnesty for Turkish manufactured top-venting blank firers (TVBFs) which are now illegal to possess following testing by the National Crime Agency and policing.
The amnesty will take place between 3 to 28 February 2025, after which anyone in possession of a top-venting blank firer (TVBF) could be subject to prosecution and up to 10 years imprisonment.
Greater Manchester Police have seized 11 firearms from registered firearms retailers across the city-region ahead of the amnesty.
Over a third of the firearms they've recovered since April 2021 are converted blank firers.