US officials have approved the transfer of 60 rifles donated from Long Island citizens to aid fighters in Ukraine.
Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman two weeks ago launched the citizens gun donation program to help Ukrainians defend themselves from Russian invaders. Rifles were dropped off at a licensed gun store, SP Firearms Unlimited, in Franklin Square.
Blakeman said the federal government has approved the shipment of ammo to Ukraine via a Florida-based gun manufacturer, Kel-Tec, a company with a long history of selling guns to Ukraine.
“We at Kel-Tec would like to thank Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman and Jerry at SP Firearms for helping to donate rifles to the people under siege in Ukraine,” Kel-Tec executive Adrian Kellegren said.
“We have a long business relationship in Ukraine and have lost contact with a good customer whose business was destroyed as a result of the war. Our company is in the process of opening a path to be able to donate close to 460 rifles to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense — 60 from Nassau’s donation drive, 400 that were part of our customer’s last order.”
Kellegren reports that the Biden administration — via the Commerce, State Defense departments Kel-Tec — approved an expedited export license for Kel-Tec to deliver the guns to Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense.
“The goal is to build a path for American gun stores, distributors, and manufacturers to be able to properly export donated rifles to the Ukrainian people. Transport logistics is an ever-changing complication in war and dozens of people are working around the clock to see this through. This process is in early development, and we will release updates through our industry partners as needed,” he said.
Blakeman, a Republican, said the Nassau County citizens’ gun donation program — believed to be the only one of its kind in the US — is a personal mission for him as well. His great grandparents were from Ukraine.
He said he’s horrified by the killing of innocent Ukrainians and heeded Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s appeal for weaponry.
“It is our hope that by doing our part here in Nassau, we can stop this war and limit the possibility of American bloodshed…I believe we have to do everything we can to protect democracy and the Ukrainian people from Russian aggression,” Blakeman said in a recent letter to President Biden.
