Dozens of weapons and ammunition were handed in to police during a two-week amnesty, Police Scotland has confirmed.

Officers said they “guaranteed” the streets were safer thanks to their drive but that there were still more guns out there.

Across Argyll and West Dunbartonshire division as a whole, there were 21 firearms or shotguns handed in, 35 air weapons, and six lots of ammunition.

Scotland overall had 474 weapons handed in, 690 air weapons and 337 ammunition.

Superintendent Ronnie Megaughin told our sister paper, the Evening Times: “These [weapons] in the hands of criminals makes a very dangerous situation.

“I have no doubt there are still more out there but we have a declining use of firearms in Scotland, it’s not a rise.

“Organised criminals have become more sophisticated but we have become more sophisticated in dealing with them.”

The North East recorded two significant weapons handed in to Police Scotland, a deadly AK47 and a World War I machine gun.

Supt Meguaghin added: “If you’re a criminal and you’re pointing that [gun] at someone, the victim has no idea whether it’s decommissioned or not so it’s just as vital to bring those weapons in.

“There’s no [evidence] just now at all to say [these weapons] came from criminals.

“I have no doubt the vast majority were sitting in people’s houses. The issue with that is they have a potential to fall into the wrong hands.

“People are much safer as a consequence of this surrender campaign.”

The campaign encouraged anyone without a valid certificate to hold a firearm or ammunition to deliver it to one of 43 designated police stations throughout the country from June 18 to July 1.

Officers expected a haul of around 700 devices to be surrendered but praised the public for handing in more than 1,500 weapons.

Supt Meguaghin urged anyone who is yet to hand over an unlicensed weapon to Police Scotland to contact 101 to discuss the matter but he warned those who don’t will face prosecution and, potentially, jail time.

He said: “Although the surrender campaign has come to an end, we continue to work to remove illegally held weapons."