The weaponry contained enough firepower to send a shiver through the more nervous members of the assembled Press corps.

Carefully bagged, for instance, was some .22 ammunition -- the type used in the Ronald Reagan assassination attempt.

There were also handguns -- among them a Luger, Smith and Wesson, Baretta, Sig-Saur and Webley -- a Colt pistol, and a Remington shotgun.

And also on display were several sub-machine guns, including an Uzi, a Hecklar-Koch, and a Mac-10.

It would have taken an expert to have known these were imitation weapons.

The weapons -- real or imitation -- were the results of the firearms amnesty, which expired at midnight on Wednesday.

Police yesterday hailed the amnesty a success after a record number of weapons was surrendered on the last day.

Sixty-three weapons were handed in the 24 hours before the deadline.

"The last day of the amnesty was by far the most successful,'' said a delighted Acting Police Commissioner Mr. Alex Forbes at a Press conference yesterday.

Among the weapons surrendered on Wednesday were four handguns, two rifles, and over 1,000 rounds of live ammunition.

Other items included six marine flares, three power tools, two butterfly knives, a crossbow, five imitation handguns, two BB guns, three starting pistols, one rubber bullet, a slingshot, an air pistol, one handheld flare, and some mace.

It brought the total number of prohibited items handed over during the amnesty to about 350.

Of these, there were six rifles and 14 handguns. The rest of the guns -- by far the majority -- were replicas.

Some 4,834 various round of ammunition was also surrendered.

Mr. Forbes told reporters: "You may ask, `Who or what type of person has handed in these weapons?'.

"Most people brought items, be they guns, replicas, imitations, ammunition or prohibited weapons, to the Police Station.

"There were others who used intermediaries such as a retired Police officer, and others telephoned and told us where to find a firearm.

"For example one was found in a trash bin on Kindley Field Road. We are certain that some of the firearms came from persons of criminal background but we also suspect that some were handed in by relatives of deceased persons who had, until their death, possessed a weapon.'' Mr. Forbes said officers were surprised by the amount of ammunition handed in.

"Although a large proportion of it was .22 calibre, most other calibres are also present.'' Mr. Forbes added: "I am aware that there was some pessimism earlier in November about the potential success of the amnesty.

"Had we received only one lethal weapon I would have been pleased. The results have far exceeded most expectations.

"But, do we think that all firearms have been handed in? Well the short answer to that is `No'.

"We will continue our efforts in locating all illegal firearms and to bring offenders before the courts.

"Now we move onto the next phase of making our community safer. We will continue to ask for public assistance regarding information on drug activities and firearms.

"I can assure the public that we will be acting on their information and the information gathered by our special unit. Every effort will be made to reduce the present crime trend.

"We want to thank the public for taking the amnesty seriously. By handing in their weapons, this has lessened the chances of them getting into the wrong hands and harming someone. So our community is a lot safer for the amnesty.''