Assemblyman Philip Ramos (D-Central Islip) announced Assembly passage yesterday of a bill he sponsored allowing local governments to destroy confiscated or surrendered weapons if they have not been claimed within one year (A.6027).

“There’s no reason these weapons should sit on shelves for years and years. If someone doesn’t claim a weapon within a year, police should have the right to dispose of it,” Ramos said. “Not only does it free up space, it also guarantees they will never be back on the streets.”

Unlike pistols or revolvers – which can legally be destroyed by local police after a certain amount of time – rifles and shotguns cannot be disposed of, even if they’ve been sitting on a police station shelf for years. This bill would give police agencies the same ability to destroy these so-called “nuisance weapons” as they have to destroy unclaimed handguns.

“This is a common-sense measure that allows police officers to spend time keeping our streets safe instead of cataloguing and inventorying old weapons,” Ramos said. “My legislation will make New York safer by destroying weapons and keeping officers on the street.”

Ramos noted that the in January the Assembly passed other legislation that prohibits convicts from obtaining firearms (A.1170) and bans cop killer bullets that can easily pierce bullet proof vests (A.2837).

“I urge the Senate to pass all of these vital pieces of legislation and for the governor to immediately sign them into law,” Ramos said. “No time is better than the present for the Senate to join the Assembly to stand up to the NRA, and finally show their support of these pieces of legislation that will keep our law enforcement officials, and our families safer.”