Suffolk County DA: Illegal Guns Are Coming To Long Island From Southern States
HAUPPAUGE, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) - A number of arrests have been made on Long Island for illegal gun possession of late, and one man has been charged with murder.
Suffolk County DA Tom Spota stood in front of ten illegal weapons on Thursday, six of which were guns that were brought to New York from southern states, WCBS 880's Sophia Hall reported.
WCBS 880's Sophia Hall reported
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Seven Long Islanders were arrested for possessing and selling those weapons after a year-long investigation.
Spota said that one of the men, 18-year-old Barry Yorke, murdered a taxicab driver during a robbery in Copiague in 2010.
"He shot him in the head during the course of a robbery. And this gun is the gun that he used," Spota told Hall as he held up the weapon that killed the driver. "This is the murder weapon. This gun comes from Macon, Georgia. And this gun was not only used in that murder; it was used in two other shootings in Suffolk County. So three people -- one death, and two thankfully survived."
The district attorney insisted that tougher gun control laws need to be passed in southern states.
"We hear it every single day when we meet with the spouses and the children and the relatives of loved ones who have been shot to death," Spota said.
Spota said that the illegal weapons came not only from Georgia, but from Virginia, Florida and North Carolina.
How can Suffolk County better regulate the weapons that come to Long Island from the south? Sound off with your comments and thoughts below...
