The Weapons and Explosives Intervention of the Las Palmas Command, in collaboration with the Mobile Material Service of the Civil Guard, as well as with the Commands of Cádiz and Seville, carried out an important joint action last September: the destruction of more than a thousand weapons that remained deposited in the different Weapons and Explosives Interventions of the province of Las Palmas. This action, carried out in compliance with the provisions of the current Weapons Regulations, has a clear objective: to permanently remove from circulation those weapons that can never end up in the wrong hands, thus contributing to reinforcing the safety of all citizens.
To this end, the weapons were transferred to a steel company located on the peninsula. There, after a smelting process, the steel obtained will be used to manufacture new objects for everyday use, closing a cycle in which instruments created long ago to cause harm are now transformed into useful elements for daily life.
Among the destroyed pieces, shotguns stand out due to their large volume. However, there were also rifles, carbines, pistols, revolvers, air guns, underwater fishing rifles, knives, alarm and signal weapons, among many other types.
The reasons why these weapons had arrived in deposit were diverse: some corresponded to owners who expressly requested their destruction; others were subject to judicial or administrative resolutions; there were also those deposited at the request of individuals and that exceeded the maximum established period of one year; and even prohibited weapons lacking a serial number, brand or official hallmarks.
This operation is part of the Comprehensive Firearms Control Plan (PICAF), a global strategy designed to comply with both national legislation and the United Nations Directive on weapons. With PICAF, the Civil Guard seeks to prevent risks as serious as illegal trafficking, undue recovery of disabled weapons, transformation of alarm or compressed air weapons into real firearms, and even the artisanal manufacture of devices capable of firing projectiles.
