A total of 131 guns and more than 7,000 cartridges of ammunition were handed in to Greater Sudbury Police (GSPS) and Ontario Provincial Police during the most recent firearms amnesty period.

The program allows people to hand in unlicensed guns to police without facing repercussions.

Greater Sudbury Police ran its own program from October, 2016 to March, 2018. There was a province-wide amnesty for the month of April that included the OPP.

Surrendered in Sudbury and surrounding communities:

55 rifles

38 shotguns

19 semi-automatic handguns (prohibited or restricted)

5 revolvers (prohibited or restricted)

9 other (BB or pellet guns)

1 antique muzzle loader

7,300 cartridges of ammunition (approximately)

GSPS Staff Sergeant Terry Rumford explained many of the guns were passed down as family heirlooms, or simply forgotten with time.

He added the amnesty helps prevent tragic accidents, and stops weapons from falling into the hands of criminals

"We've taken the opportunity to view this as a public safety initiative where we're able to take firearms that are no longer wanted, and we take them with the discretion, meaning we don't process criminal charges if they're turned over, provided a set of circumstances are met," said Rumford.

Sgt. Wade Maksymchuk and St. Sgt. Terry Rumford of the Greater Sudbury Police Service. (Benjamin Aubé/CBC)

Though most of the guns will be melted and destroyed, some will be kept for training purposes.

That will be the case for one particularly rare find: a World War II-era Japanese Type 94 Nambu Nagoya Army Arsenal pistol.

"It's dated and manufactured from 1934 to 1945, and the markings on it are in Japanese, so it was obviously brought back from World War II," explained Rumford.

"This firearm was shipped to Ottawa to be placed in their archives, so they can use it as reference purposes for identifying other firearms. There's a repository there [...] and they hadn't had this type of firearm in their possession."

Though the amnesty period is now closed, GSPS Sgt. Wade Maksymchuk said police will continue to use discretion when others come across unwanted or unlicensed firearms.

"We're still encouraging people to let us know and we can safely dispose of them, through investigation," said Maksymchuk.

Rumford added that, "We're prepared to move forward and look at each situation onto itself, use some discretion and try to help the citizen deal with any unwanted firearms in a way that's palatable for all concerned."