LOADED WEAPONS HANDED IN

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31774, 3 September 1968, Page 16

LOADED WEAPONS HANDED IN

A fully-loaded -32 Browning automatic and a .22 revolver with rounds in all chambers were handed into the Christchurch police arms officer (Constable W. Miller) yesterday by an elderly widow from Papanui. She did not know they were loaded.

The weapons belonged to the woman’s husband who died 18 months ago. “The woman brought the weapons in a parcel. She unwrapped them and handed me the revolver. I could see it was loaded and said, ‘Give me the automatic, piease.’ I pulled back the action and a round popped out. “The magazine was full and a round was in the breach. Both the automatic and revolver were in excellent condition and each would have fired if the trigger had been pulled,” Constable Miller said. He said that the woman had told him she was scared of firearms. She knew nothing about them, and would have given them to the police before but was frightened of being prosecuted. “She could have handed them in before the amnesty. Under the circumstances she would not have been prosecuted. Her grandchildren might have been killed playing with the weapons if they had found them,” said Constable Miller. Three rifles and about 200 rounds of ammunition were also handed into the Central Police Station yesterday, and an Army explosives expert was called to collect a shell from a house. Several other persons called at the arms office to notify changes of address. The owners of weapons are required

by law to inform the police of changes of address—they can do this without fear of prosecution during the arms amnesty which will run to November 30.