Amnesty yields first AK-47 assault rifle
September 25, 2015 | By KNews | Filed Under News, Source
Police have collected their first high-powered weapon with just a few days left for the gun amnesty.
Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum said that a civilian at Omai handed over an AK-47 assault rifle and 12 rounds of ammunition on Wednesday.
The AK-47 is considered to be one of the most effective assault rifles ever made. More AK-type weapons are reportedly produced than all other assault rifles combined.
Several were stolen from the Guyana Defence Force during the 2003 crime wave. Some were recovered from slain gunmen, but others are still to be accounted for.
Since the start of the amnesty, police have collected six illegal pistols, one revolver, six air rifles, as well as 1,495 rounds of ammunition, 28 shotgun cartridges and five magazines.
Former Home Affairs Minister, Clement Rohee, has been one of the staunchest critics of the amnesty.
He has stated that a Task Force, set up under his watch, had indicated that an amnesty would be ineffective.
He had also said that many of the firearms that were handed over to the police appeared to be out-dated.
βSome of those things look like relicsβ¦Bandits donβt use those kinds of firearms these days, so where they came from is another question.