F.S. firearms shop collecting, selling guns for transport to Ukraine

Residents of Nassau County can donate specific guns at SP Firearms Unlimited in Franklin Square over the next four days that Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman said at a press conference at the firearm shop on March 3 would be transported to Ukrainian citizens fighting the Russian invasion.

“The Ukrainian people want to protect themselves, so let’s give them the resources to do that,” Blakeman said in front of the Franklin Square firearms shop.

Eight days since the Russian war on Ukraine began, the United Nations has reported 209 confirmed civilian deaths and estimated that 10 million people will ultimately be displaced by the conflict. A 40-mile-long convoy of Russian tanks and armored vehicles, widely expected to be inching toward an encirclement and eventual siege of Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, is now within 19 miles of the city.

Legally purchased ‘long guns,’ which include rifles, shotguns and AR15s as well as derivatives of the AR15, may be donated. Any weapons brought to the firearms shop must be unloaded, and those donating or purchasing a gun to be donated must present a valid form of identification.

Handguns as well as firearms requiring repairs are not being accepted for donations. New weapons can also be purchased and held by SP Firearms Unlimited until the firearms can be shipped to Ukraine.

Firearms can be donated or purchased on March 4 and March 5 between 10:30 a.m. and 7 p.m., on March 6 between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. and on March 7 between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m.

Jerry Sperduto, the owner of the firearms shop, said those who donate or purchase a weapon will receive a document of proof that gun is no longer in their possession.

Ammunition is not currently being asked for due to legal uncertainties about its storage, Blakeman said. He added that his office is actively pursuing plans to legally secure and send ammunition to Ukraine along with the donated firearms.

Blakeman said the county plans to reach out to the federal government for assistance in transporting the weapons to Ukraine.

“We will collect them; President Biden, you get them there,” he said, adding that donated weapons can only be sent to federally approved weapons distributors in foreign countries. Blakeman said the county is seeking federal assistance although it could ship the weapons to nearby countries like Poland Hungary because federal government assistance can speed up the donation process and be done at no cost to taxpayers.

“We need to do this quick,” Blakeman said. “Time is of the essence; this is life and death,” adding that he believes residents of Nassau want to help end what he called a “crazy and senseless war.”

“Its unimaginable what’s going on there,” said Misha Migdal, a Nassau representative of the Ukrainian-American Chamber of Commerce, of the war taking place in Ukraine, his native country. Migdal said his phone was ringing as he spoke at the press conference, overloaded with calls from citizens in Ukraine fearful for the fate of their country.

“The people there are fighting not just for their lives… All they want is their freedom in their own country,” he emphasized.

“They can fight like lions but they are fighting by themselves… how are you going to fight ballistic missiles?” Migdal asked, calling on the United States and Europe to support the effort to roll back the invasion militarily.

Migdal offered a dark assessment of the state of the war.

“It seems like evil is coming back,” saying that Kharkiv, a major Ukrainian city and the capital of Soviet-era Ukraine, is facing damage worse than during World War Two.

“This is nothing new, we’ve seen this before,” Blakeman, who noted that his grandparents emigrated from Odessa, a highly populated port city in southwestern Ukraine, said, comparing the war to the Nazi invasion of Poland in 1939.

“Those were ordinary citizens being invaded by a foreign country,” he said. This is heartbreaking it makes us angry, sad and motivated to do something,” Blakeman said. “How can we sit by silently and not do our part?” he asked.

Brian V., a representative of the Long Island Chaplain Task Force, an organization that dispatches highly skilled volunteers to provide spiritual, emotional assistance to those in need, presented a $25,000 check from the LICTF to the Ukrainian Defense Fund.

“Brave people want to fight, and it’s the least we can do to is help them with supplies and munitions,” he said.

Volodymyr Tsyalkovsky of the Ukrainian American Society of Long Island, who is originally from Lviv, the largest city in Western Ukraine, said the war is an “unprecedented disaster” and called for a combination of diplomatic, humanitarian and military solutions to bring about an end to the conflict.

“Every effort is important, and this is just one of the actions that we can and should take to oppose and fight back against this aggression,” he said of the plan to ship firearms from Nassau residents to Ukraine.