Operation PIVOT - Firearms amnesty

An amnesty for five Top Venting Blank Firing (TVBF) models manufactured by Bruni will run throughout February.

Firearms owners are being urged to check if their previously lawful weapon is one of five now classified as illegal – and to hand them in safely during a month-long amnesty.

Police forces across England and Wales will be holding a four-week firearms amnesty from Today (02/02/26) until Friday, 27th February for five models of side or top-venting weapons manufactured by Bruni.

Locally this means that you can hand these in at Church Stretton police station if an officer is available, if no one is available to answer the door please note we will be running a drop in surgery on 11/02 at 10am for an hour. Otherwise Shrewsbury is your nearest permanently manned police station.

The following five imitation firearms can be handed in to local police station without fear of prosecution, after tests by the National Crime Agency (NCA) and policing showed they are readily convertible and are therefore illegal to possess:

• 8mm PAK Bruni BBM Model 92 blank firing self-loading pistol

• 8mm PAK Bruni BBM New Police blank firing self-loading pistol

• 8mm PAK Bruni BBM Model 96 blank firing self-loading pistol

• 8mm PAK Bruni BBM Model ‘GAP’ blank firing self-loading pistol

• .380R (9mmK) PAK Bruni BBM ME Ranger single-action blank firing revolver

The amnesty period is designed to enable those who purchased one of the models legally for their intended use to dispose of them safely. It also prevents potentially lethal weapons falling into the hands of criminals who may seek to convert them and pose a risk to the public.

Possession of one of the guns after the amnesty ends could result in a prison sentence of 10 years.

TVBFs are legal to buy without a licence by anyone over 18 in the UK, unless they are readily convertible. They’re often bought as collectors’ items or for use in bird-scaring or as theatrical props.

In their original state TVBFs have a fully blocked barrel and are designed to discharge only blank cartridges. When discharged, combustion gases vent from the top of the weapon. TVBFs are sold with at least 50% of their visible surface painted a bright colour however, criminals may paint them black so they look like an original lethal purpose weapon as well as convert them to a lethal purpose firearm.