A trial weapons amnesty is being planned for five areas, including The Hague, the Ministry of Justice confirmed on Friday. The news coincides with a spate of violent incidents at schools.

Den Helder, Tilburg, Castricum and Cuijk are also on the list of places where youngsters will be able to hand over weapons at schools – or in bars and clubs – without fear of prosecution. If successful, the amnesty will be extended nationwide, the ministry said.
A similar campaign seven years ago – which also targeted adults – brought in 3,800 illegal guns.
Yesterday, teaching unions called on the education minstry to investigate school security after four separate stabbing incidents at schools.
In Amsterdam on Thursday a 14-year-old boy was stabbed in a fight. While in Oss, an 18-year-old youth was knifed by a 16-year-old during a row in a school bicycle shed. A 16-year-old boy was stabbed in a fight at a high school in Naaldwijk on Wednesday.
And on Tuesday it was discovered that one of 11 people arrested at an ROC school in Rotterdam had a gun. That incident lead to the school being cleared by a special armed police unit.
School security has been an extra issue for school inspectors since last year. This includes assessing how safe pupils feel in and outside school and checking policy on how to deal with violent incidents. However, research by the ROC vocational high schools suggests fewer pupils now carry weapons – just 2.5% compared with 7% in 2002.