The Tucson City Council has become a notorious scofflaw for ignoring a state law regarding firearms. Arizona has a state preemption law to avoid a confusing patchwork of local laws, something which could easily entrap innocent people who exercise their Second Amendment rights. The Tucson City Council has ignored the law.
Arizona also requires that firearms that come into the possession of the police must be sold to federal firearms dealers so that their value can be used for the public good. Tucson has been accused of destroying these valuable items, presumably to make political statement. Or something.
This year, the legislature seems to have had enough of this. They passed a bill that required the attorney general to investigate claims of political entities violating the law when the AG is asked to do so by a member of the legislature. If an investigation indicates a violation of the law, the political entity could be punished in them manner most likely to get their attention — by withholding state revenue.
Great news! Representative (and AzCDL member) Mark Finchem (LD 11) has asked the Arizona Attorney General to investigate the City of Tucson for the routine destruction of firearms in violation of ARS 13-3108.F. If the Attorney General’s investigation reveals that legal action should be brought against Tucson, the city could face withholding of State Shared Revenue funds.
So it appears there will be an official investigation into the alleged violations of law by the city of Tucson. The next few months should reveal whether violations of the law have occurred or not.
The Arizona Citizens Defense League was instrumental in promoting the legislation to hold scofflaw political entities to account. Similar legislation has been passed in Florida and Pennsylvania, and is being considered in other states.
