New York City is now cracking down on their policy that allowed empty brass from the NYPD ranges to be sold to companies that reload the ammo to sell again on the civilian market. They put a ban on sales to reloaders, and all buyers must now sign an agreement that they will destroy the brass in such a way that it can never be reloaded.
Interestingly, Bloomberg, who initially defended selling to the reloading company, isn’t publicly taking credit for this move. However, de Blasio’s team says that while they absolutely take pride in having this policy, it’s actually a Bloomberg policy that was put into place very quietly in 2012.
Slightly off-topic, but the range mentioned in the article, Rodman’s Neck (near Orchard Beach in the Bronx) is a place I am quite familiar with. My father did his last 5 years or so on the job as a firearms instructor and I must say that “bring your kids to work day” was always a good time.
Interesting note as well is that the range was clearly a small military base from the WWII time period. My father told me if you ever went for a walk in the higher grass along the grounds you can find the giant concrete slabs that the anti-aircraft guns were mounted on.
Time to stop selling ammo to the NYPD. They are so antagonistic to gun owners and manufacturers.
“Georgia Arms said in an email that the stipulation might lower the value of the metal, although the bidding so far has topped $70,000 for the casings and over $26,000 for the lead. “It will end up overseas as scrap brass and probably come back here in new form,†the company said.”
Thank goodness that brass and lead can’t be remelted and used to make new ammunition! Wonderful, too, that this scrap will be stimulating overseas economies, and not our own.
Respectfully, how is not selling brass or lead to commercial reloaders a “crackdown”?
We have no right to used brass or lead. If the voters of NYC don’t want that brass going into ammo production for us hillbilly inbreds, that is their choice. They will get lower market value for their recycled metal, but they don’t seem to care (considering who they elected).
As long as it does not infringe on a personal right, those voters can do whatever dumb things they want to do. And again, there is no right to spent brass or old lead.
Sorry to not find this abhorrent.
It’s not what NYC does with the cases that I don’t like. It’s what it reveals about their attitude: They don’t want to be involved, in any way, with people who have guns but are not government agents. They’re willing to take a slight hit to the city’s wallet to avoid us. It’s another example of a sign that they are not interested only in keeping illegal guns off the streets. They don’t like ANY guns in any hands but their own. Unless I am seriously mistaken, that’s what this is saying.
I agree. It’s the same message the fed.gov sends when it refuses to sell once-fired military brass to reloading companies, and insists instead that it be shredded, crushed, and then recycled.
Note that that policy mandates it be shredded and crushed before it leaves fed.gov ownership, and that the military uses several orders of magnitude more ammunition for training than NYPD. This makes it a substantial burden on the .mil budget, whereas selling it to private and commercial reloaders would be a not-insignificant source of income.
But the powers-that-be feel the need to stick it to private gun owners enough to justify the extra expense. Whatever makes them feel better/more manly/more powerful, I guess.
Good to know that NYC has such a good balance sheet that The City (not my The City, fortunately!) can afford to accept a lower payment for these materials than they otherwise would bring.
So let me get this right, who initially pays for NYPD ammunition? TAX PAYERS! And the NYC gov won’t sell spent brass to reloading companies and instead sells it as scrap for a substantially less amount, therefore costing TAX PAYERS more in the end for NYPD ammo! Great job NYC great job! Way to charge tax payers for your own personal agenda!
Spiteful.
I agree with the idea that ammunition manufacturers should join in the boycott of hostile governments, to include their police. I bet they’ll apologize when the NYPD cannot get ammunition to put in their standard capacity magazines (i.e. those that hold 15 rounds or more).
It all boils down to this…the police are no better than us and do not deserve special treatment or exemptions. If they can get some cool tactical item, so should the citizens.
At this point it is their agenda too. Feel no pity for NYC residents.
Wait, NYPD has brass from practicing with guns? When did they start practicing?