Weapons in Tenerife were destroyed to ensure they cannot be used again in criminal activities, to prevent accidents, and to guarantee overall public safety.
Additionally, the destruction helps prevent weapons from falling into the wrong hands or being sold illegally. This process is part of a strictly regulated procedure that follows when owners lose their license, voluntarily surrender their weapons, or when weapons have been involved in criminal offenses or administrative violations.
Scrap
The Guardia Civil of Santa Cruz de Tenerife has transferred 2,559 confiscated weapons to a steel foundry in the province to have them melted down into scrap metal. In a statement, the Guardia Civil reported that after all procedures and holding periods were completed, the arsenal consisted of revolvers, pistols, hunting rifles, carbines, firearms, bladed weapons, and historical firearms, among others.
Confiscated weapons are usually destroyed through a controlled process such as melting them down in a steel foundry. First, they are rendered completely unusable, with critical components such as barrels, bolts, and triggers irreparably damaged, making reuse impossible. Then, they are transported to specialized facilities where they are melted into scrap.
Regulations
The weapons were previously stored in the depots of the Weapons and Explosives Departments of the provincial command. Some had been voluntarily surrendered by their owners, while others were seized due to license fraud or simply because they were unlicensed. There were also weapons that had been used in criminal acts, involved in administrative offenses, or classified as prohibited.
According to current regulations, there are various requirements for owning firearms, including having no criminal record and passing both theoretical and practical exams on their use and handling. Furthermore, the law stipulates that weapons must be rendered unusable or destroyed when the owner is no longer legally entitled to possess them, in order to prevent misuse.
Purpose
The deactivation of firearms has been strictly regulated since 2011 and involves a process where all essential parts are altered to the point that reuse is impossible. The Guardia Civil periodically carries out the destruction of firearms of various calibers, as well as prohibited bladed weapons. Weapons involved in criminal offenses or subject to administrative violations are destroyed after legal procedures are completed.
Other weapons are destroyed simply because their owners are no longer authorized to own them, and they were not allocated through auctions. These weapons are therefore converted into scrap by melting or a similar method.
Guardia Civil @ Photography
Weapons destroyed in Tenerife ©
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