More than 130 surrendered and seized firearms were destroyed on Wednesday as part of the ongoing firearms amnesty.

Police say the destroyed weapons included handguns, shotguns, rifles and gel blasters.

More than 620 firearms have been surrendered to police since the permanent National Firearms Amnesty began on July 1 2021.

Insp Dennis Gellatly said unregistered and illegal firearms posed a great threat to the community.

“Weapons such rifles, handguns and gel blasters – which are made to very closely resemble conventional firearms – are illegal to own in the ACT and police continue to seize them,” he said.

“Removing these weapons from the community means they can’t be used for criminal activity such as aggravated burglaries or violent assaults.”

The National Firearms Amnesty is a permanent initiative by the federal government, Crime Stoppers and local police. The amnesty aims to remove unwanted, unregistered or illicit firearms from the community.

People wanting to surrender their firearms or firearm-related items, can do so by calling the ACT Firearms Registry on 5162 9076 or actfirearmsregistry@afp.gov.au