Samoa's gun amnesty has closed with more than 500 illegal guns destroyed.
Samoa police gun amnesty closed with over 500 illegal guns destroyed Photo: RNZI / Autagavaia Tipi Autagavaia
The Prime Minister, Tuila'epa Sa'ilele Malielegaoi, has congratulated the Police Commissioner and his ministry for the two-month gun amnesty programme which had collected 322 firearms and ammunitions.
The 202 of the weapons plus more than 300 illegal guns found by the police in raids and other police cases have been destroyed in front of a crowd including Tuila'epa, using a heavy machine.
The Police Commissioner, Fuiavailili Egon Keil, says the amnesty was aimed to reduce gun violence,
"The main objective of this operation was to reduce the number of unlawful guns in Samoa and to afford law-abiding gun owners the chance to re-register your legally purchased guns without fear of prosecution. Our overarching goal is to reduce incidents of gun violence in our country."
The Australian Federal Police helped fund the gun amnesty programme.
