From this Friday and until December 2, a "simplified weapons abandonment operation" is organized in France for individuals who hold pistols or rifles, often inherited and not always legally.
They have the possibility of abandoning it or of regularizing the situation without the risk of legal proceedings in one of the 300 “armodromes” deployed in the territory.
In the Toulouse suburbs or even in Carcassonne, on the first day of this operation of unprecedented scale, abandonments are already very numerous, the owners taking advantage of “the opportunity”.
Old shotguns, Spanish “Guernica” pistols from the beginning of the last century and even a harpoon.
In a garage of the Blagnac police station, north of Toulouse, a real arsenal litters the ground this Friday, at the start of the afternoon.
While the "simplified abandonment of weapons" operation set up by the Ministry of the Interior began the same morning, dozens of rifles and revolvers are already piling up in this "armodrome", one of the 300 deployed on the national territory as part of this unprecedented campaign.
From this Friday and until November 25, individuals have the opportunity to come and drop off the old gun inherited from Grandpa which they want to get rid of.
Or if they prefer to keep it at home in memory of their ancestors, they also have the possibility of regularizing their situation “without risk of legal proceedings”.
"I thought it was now or never"
When Jean-Pierre's mother heard about this ephemeral device from the press, two weeks ago, she called her son to ask him to get rid of "my grandfather's weapon which was in the attic ".
“That shotgun hadn't been used for sixty years, she didn't know what to do with it.
For my part, I will have kept it well, I even asked myself the question of its recording.
But I made the choice to come and abandon it, it will be one less thing to settle for my children, ”says this resident of Balma, a town in the east of Toulouse.
Every 10 minutes, a newcomer comes to get rid of his old guns and other calibers of all kinds, which, for the most part, have not fired a cartridge for decades.
While a retiree arrives on foot with a well-laden sports bag, Michel quietly parks his car in front of the “armodrome”.
"I thought it was now or never," says this resident of Beauzelle, a few kilometers away.
Like many, in the package of things he inherited a few years ago were several rifles.
While a "weapons and ammunition manager" of the national police checks that they are unloaded and notes the serial numbers by showing them with chalk, he explains that he "prefers that it is the State rather than a gunsmith who takes care of that".
"If I brought them it's also because I don't want to worry if someone steals them from me, and as I get older you never know, if I lose my mind I don't want to use it without knowing what I do,” he jokes.
Behind the humor, however, hides a reality.
In domestic dramas, illegally owned weapons are often used.
If 5 million people are in the nails, the specialized services of the Ministry of the Interior estimate that there are at least as many pistols and other rifles in circulation which are not registered within the Information System on Weapons ( AIS).
Remove traffic, avoid theft
"In any case, all those who will be brought during this week, it will be so much less in circulation in the country", pleads the divisional commander Lilian Clément, who supervises the operation for the national police in Toulouse.
For him, in view of the dozens of weapons already recovered, this campaign is on the way to being a success.
Because as a general rule, over a year in the Toulouse district, there are around “70 to 90 weapons recovered as part of abandonments”, he notes.
[#Armodrome]🔫
As part of the national operation for the simplified abandonment of state weapons from 25.11 to 2.12, @Prefet11 went to one of the 3 Aude armodromes.
📸 #Carcassonne police station
ℹ️more info on https://t.co/5BhagtdrdJ
#security #Narbonne #Limoux pic.twitter.com/qnBr1TFAbm
— Prefect of Aude🇫🇷 (@Prefet11) November 25, 2022
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100 km away, at the Carcassonne police station, the feeling is shared.
In one morning, the police recovered about twenty weapons, including one of war.
“It's an old German rifle that was used by the French Resistance.
It had been kept by the family.
But when one of its members brought it to us this morning, he was relieved to be able to get rid of it, he was afraid that it would be stolen during a burglary.
We also handed over a pinfire gun, the gentleman wanted to keep it because it belonged to his father, but his wife forced him to come, ”says peacekeeper Laurent Cazabant who saw people pass by, often 'a certain age.
Behind each of these weapons, there is a family history and it is therefore difficult for some to throw away this past which sometimes spans several generations.
Some therefore prefer to recover the path of legality by registering the weapon that he had forgotten behind a pile of laundry.
“They can do it online or come and get help to register their weapons on the dedicated site by creating their account.
They can bring a photo and some indications on the weapon.
Their file will then be investigated,” said a member of the State services who records these declarations within the police station.
And for those who can't get around but want to give up their weapons, along with any explosive devices, we go to their homes.
We have set up a dedicated number, ”recalls Thierry Bonnier, the prefect of Aude who came to see the success of the operation which in the middle of the day had made it possible to recover 31 long guns, 18 handguns and more than 1,500 cartridges on the police area of the department.
Except if it is a weapon with heritage value, which could end up in a museum window, all these "donations" made in Occitania will end up in the same place, in Toulouse, in a center specializing in their destruction. .
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