OVER 2 000 suspects have been arrested for unlawful possession of firearms during an ongoing operation titled “No to Illegal Firearms, Misuse of Toy Guns and Dangerous Weapons”.
In a statement yesterday, national police spokesperson Commissioner Paul Nyathi said the law enforcement agency had recovered a number of unlicensed firearms and those without proper documentation as of August27.“. . . the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) arrested 2 132 suspects for having unlicensed firearms, failure to renew firearms, misuse of toy guns and unlawful possession of other dangerous weapons,” Nyathi said.
“The police recovered 60 unlicensed firearms, 305 firearms with expired firearm certificates, 96 firearms for other firearms-related offences, 258 misused toy guns and 2 967 other dangerous weapons.”
Police launched the operation after the expiry of a presidential amnesty for illegal firearm holders to surrender the weapons.
The amnesty was unveiled last September following a spike in armed robbery cases.
Some of the robberies involved retired and serving soldiers or police officers.
The amnesty covered anyone in possession of smuggled weapons or those illegally brought into the country.
Nyathi said another presidential firearm amnesty was on the cards.
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“Meanwhile, the police implore the public to prepare for the forthcoming Presidential Firearms Amnesty, where individuals and administrators are allowed to voluntarily surrender unregistered firearms and ammunition without prosecution,” he said.
“In the event of a firearm owner’s passing on, family members and State administrators are required to surrender the firearm to the police as stipulated in the Firearms Act [Chapter 10:09].”
