Antique guns and a samurai sword are among the weapons handed in to Rotterdam regional police after a two-week amnesty in the second half of January.

In total, locals handed in 260 weapons and 650 kilos of ammunition, including 60 guns and 43 knives.

‘We are extremely pleased that so many weapons have been handed in,’ spokesman Tarik Topen said on website Politie.nl. ‘We’ve had far more than we expected. But more importantly, people have become more aware that holding weapons is not a normal thing to do.’

The campaign to get people to turn in weapons was launched by locals in Rotterdam-Zuid who have been campaigning for action for two years.

Most of the haul is made up of older weapons. ‘We were never under the illusion that the big criminals would hand over their guns, but of course, we have other campaigns and investigations under way,’ Topen said.

According to broadcaster NOS, one of the guns handed in is a 19th century Colt which could be worth as much as €35,000. And several guns owned by members of the resistance during World War II may be donated to museums.