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A Nassau County politician wants Long Islanders to donate guns so he can ship them to Ukraine for use in the ongoing conflict with Russia.
GOP County Executive Bruce Blakeman told The Post he’s arranging the stunt to draw attention to Ukraine’s defiant resistance against Vladimir Putin and his military’s devastating assault on their country.
“Just watching the Ukrainian residents making Molotov cocktails in a brewery out of beer bottles shows they’re in a desperate flight and we can’t stand by and do nothing,” he said before mentioning the Ukrainian president’s rejection of the US’s evacuation offer last week.
“As President Zelensky said: he doesn’t need a ride, he needs weapons.”
Blakeman hopes to collect hunting rifles and civilianized military-style semiautomatic weapons, like AR-15s.
But, he admitted that he had not yet identified a way to get the guns halfway around the world and would likely need federal agencies to sign off on the shipment.
Blakeman said he’s working with Long Island GOP Representatives Andrew Garbarino and Lee Zeldin to pressure the Biden administration to grant approval.
Zeldin, who is now running for governor and gained the state Republican Party’s seal of approval as their designated nominee Tuesday, voted against certifying Biden’s 2020 win.
The move comes as the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany and other western European allies ship weapons – including anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles – to Ukraine by the planeload.
Blakeman told The Post he’s setting up a four-day gun collection to run Friday through next Monday, even though he has yet to find a way to ship the guns overseas to the war-torn country.
He said he’s asking individuals to drop off or buy and then donate firearms at a licensed gun store, SP Firearms Unlimited, in Franklin Square, New York.
He said he’s also raised around $20,000 for the effort, as of Wednesday.
“I will be the first to buy a gun and donate it to the Ukrainian people.”
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