In early 2025, an amnesty will take place in England and Wales for owners of specific blank-firing firearms, known for their convertibility into deadly weapons, to surrender them to law enforcement.
This follows tests by the National Crime Agency (NCA) confirming that four Turkish-made top-venting blank-firing models are readily convertible, making them illegal under UK law.
Top-venting blank firers (TVBFs) can legally be bought in the UK by individuals over 18, as they are originally designed with fully blocked barrels to discharge only blank cartridges. However, four models – identified as Retay, Ekol, Ceonic ISSC, and Blow – have become popular among criminals who convert them to fire live ammunition. Although sold with bright colours on at least 50% of their surface, these guns are often repainted black to closely resemble real firearms.
Since 2021, UK law enforcement has recovered over 800 converted blank firers. Last year, discharges from these guns outnumbered incidents involving genuine lethal-purpose firearms, with 64 recorded discharges compared to 42 for original firearms. Disturbingly, the four models were involved in at least four homicides in the UK in the past two years.
The NCA, with support from the Home Office and police chiefs, conducted tests earlier this year, which demonstrated the ease of converting these firearms with basic tools and minimal skills. As a result, these brands are now classified as prohibited under the Firearms Act 1968, and law enforcement has instructed importers and retailers to halt trading them. Border Force will also seize any future imports of these models.
The amnesty will run from 3rd February to 28th February 2025, allowing owners to safely hand in their TVBFs at local police stations without prosecution. After this period, possession of any of these firearms could result in a prison sentence of up to 10 years.
Diana Johnson, Minister of State for Policing, Fire and Crime Prevention, underlined the importance of public cooperation in reducing these weapons’ availability: “Dangerous criminals will always look for new ways to acquire weapons, but we remain vigilant in taking them out of their hands. These weapons are illegal, and it is vital any member of the public possessing these blank firers hands them into their local police station.”
NCA Deputy Director Charles Yates described the threat posed by converted TVBFs, despite the UK’s relatively low firearms crime rate: “Protecting the public from the threat of firearms is a principal priority for the NCA and partners in policing and Border Force. It is crucial that we work with industry partners to prevent any further access to these easily converted firearms.”
Assistant Chief Constable Tim Metcalfe, National Police Chiefs’ Council lead on criminal firearm use, added: “These firearms are very appealing to criminals and offenders who convert them can generate large profits. Stopping the sale of these guns will go a significant way to help protect the public.”
If these models ate ‘readily convertible’, then why were they allowed into the UK in the first place??
It suggests that somone in the Home Office. wasn’t doing their job properly.
I think people should be compensated for the loss of their legally purchased and govenment confiscated property.
I wonder- ‘readily convertible’ into what? If for example you have a blank firing pistol that’s similar to an ordinary model but with a blocked barrel then you could drill the barrel out with ‘basic tools’, but you wouldn’t recreate the rifling, so your bullets would tumble if they travelled any distance. That’s assuming you were able to source appropriate bullets in the first place. Of course if you can source bullets then you don’t need anything much more sophisticated than a metal pipe and a nail in order to fire them anyway. Maybe the Home Office should calm down.
These guns are a major issue in violent crime with especially minor or mid tier gangs. You are correct in that the barrels are drilled out, but instead of using conventional bullets criminals will often glue air gun pellets to the end of the blank. It may sound comical and not a particular threat, but at close range there lethal. Also if you think a gun without rifling isn’t a big deal, the 10,000s that died in the Napoleonic wars would likely disagree.