More than 30 guns turned in to Penticton RCMP

PENTICTON – Penticton RCMP accepted a mix of 32 guns, including a starter's pistol and several World War One rifles, during June's gun amnesty program.

This was a tiny drop in the bucket of the 1,801 firearms given over to law enforcement officials across B.C. There were also 155 other weapons given up and about 30,700 rounds of ammunition handed over as well.

Penticton exhibit custodian Glenn Smith said RCMP officers retrieved the weapons themselves rather than accepting weapons at the detachment's front desk. Each weapon's characteristics were also passed along and compared to records at a Vancouver database. Weapons suspected to have been used in crimes would be kept until no longer needed.

Once given the all-clear, Penticton RCMP will have the weapons cut into pieces using a hydraulic press. Smith said he could not divulge the location where this would happen for security reasons. They would not be recycled.

"In the police world the less guns on the street the better," he said.

Sgt. Rick Dellebuur said nothing exotic was turned in. Other detachments received machine guns, crossbows and even a missile. Penticton got several rifles, a few shotguns and even fewer pistols. Smith said they also took boxes and boxes of ammunition.

To contact a reporter for this story, to send photos or videos, email Shannon Quesnel at squesnel@infotelnews.ca, call 250-488-3065 or tweet @shannonquesnel1