Full details of a firearms and offensive weapons amnesty were announced today by Minister for Justice Michael McDowell.
The amnesty comes ahead of the tightening up of legislation later this year.
From tomorrow, members of the public surrendering illegally held guns will escape prosecution for not having a licence. However, the amnesty does not offer immunity from prosecution for more serious gun crime.
Mr McDowell said today any person who wishes to surrender a weapon may do so at any Garda station. "When they hand in the weapon they will be simply asked to give their name and address and supply proof of identity.
"All surrendered weapons will be forensically tested and, where any is found to have been used in a crime, the forensic evidence and the weapon will be admissible in the prosecution of that crime."
Although the identity of the person handing in an illegal weapon will be stored along with the identity of the weapon, Mr McDowell said the individual "will not be prejudiced by the fact they brought the weapon forward" and they "will not go on a black list or anything like that".
The Minister said he was under no illusions that "large numbers of hardened criminals are going to hand over their firearms at Garda stations".
But he believed that there are people across Ireland who have guns and offensive weapons and who, for example, would have found it difficult to come forward or to admit that they had weapons in their house or to admit what relative brought them into their house or that they had neglected to licence them.
He also believed that any patriotic and decent person would hand up illegal weapons to their local Garda station, but said it was "in the scheme" for a garda to visit an individual if they wanted to "hand over the weapon in privacy".
From November 1st, following this amnesty, Mr McDowell announced that mandatory minimum custodial sentences, of between five and ten years, for a range of serious firearms offences, would be introduced.
The parents of Donna Cleary, tragically shot in Coolock six months ago, lent their backing to the amnesty today by attending the press conference.
Mr McDowell said they they bear witness, "not just to the awful circumstances of Donna's death, but to the need for we, as a community, to do whatever we can to rid ourselves of the scourge of illegal weapons."
Fine Gael Justice Spokesman Jim O'Keeffe TD has welcomed the gun amnesty but said he has concerns about its effectiveness, in particular the requirement that people identify themselves.
"The surge in gun-related crime, and in particular the death of Donna Cleary, show that guns are readily available. Everyone stands to benefit if illegal firearms and offensive weapons are taken out of circulation," he said. However, he said he hoped that the Minister's insistence that people identify themselves will not discourage them from handing in their weapons..
Joanna Tuffy, Labour Seanad spokesperson on justice, also welcomed the amnesty as a "worthwhile development" but said it was "no substitute for a concerted effort to target criminal gangs and put them out of business".
She said that "there is little chance that the dangerous criminals who held a bank official's family hostage at gunpoint this week... will be interested in the Minister's offer."
Dublin Mid West Fianna Fál TD John Curran said he has remained in close contact with the Minister since first calling for an amnesty 18 months ago.
"The inclusion of knives and crossbows as well as unwanted and unlicensed guns is an important move given the number of stabbings that take place in Dublin and in other parts of the country, in particular at weekends," he said.
"Many of these attacks are drink fuelled, and removing the knives will undoubtedly make our streets safer.."