On Thursday the Arizona Supreme Court found that the gun policies adopted by the City of Tucson are of statewide concern and the “State may constitutionally prohibit a City’s practice, prescribed by local ordinance, of destroying firearms that the City obtains through forfeiture or as unclaimed property.”
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“The primary issue we address here is whether the state may constitutionally prohibit a city’s practice, prescribed by local ordinance, of destroying firearms that the city obtains through forfeiture or as unclaimed property. We conclude that a generally applicable state statute on this subject controls over a conflicting municipal ordinance, that the legislature may require the Attorney General to investigate and file a special action in this Court regarding alleged violations of the state law, and that this Court has mandatory jurisdiction to resolve whether the allegedly conflicting ordinance violates state law. Applying those principles here, we accept jurisdiction of the State’s special action and hold, in accordance with article 13, section 2 of the Arizona Constitution, that A.R.S. §§ 12-945(B) and 13-3108(F) supersede Tucson Code § 2-142,” wrote Justice Pelander for the Court.
The Court awarded the State court fees.
“The Court rejected all of Tucson’s constitutional arguments related to their illegal gun destruction ordinance. This is a victory for the rule of law and Second Amendment rights,” stated Attorney General Mark Brnovich.
In October 2016, Representative Mark Finchem asked the Attorney General’s Office to investigate whether the Tucson Ordinance violates state law. The Attorney General’s Office investigated, and the City provided public records and a written response.
In November 2016, the Arizona Attorney General’s Office answered the question presented by Finchem as to whether the City of Tucson was in violation of Arizona statute when it destroyed thousands of guns. The SB1487 investigative report prepared by Paul Watkins, Chief of the Civil Litigation Division of the Arizona Attorney General Office, concluded that under Arizona law the “ordinance may violate state law.”
According to the Attorney General’s Office, the report essentially put the City on notice. The City was given an opportunity to take steps to stop the offending action (repeal the ordinance and have the police department change its policies). At the time, Ryan Anderson spokesman for the Attorney General’s Office told the ADI in an email, “If the city opts to not change their policies, then the next step under the statute would be for this office to file in the Arizona Supreme Court.”
A.R.S. 13-3108 provides the state with the right to regulate firearms. Section F specifically prohibits “any agency or political subdivision of this state and any law enforcement agency in this state” from facilitating “the destruction of a firearm or purchase or otherwise acquire a firearm for the purpose of destroying the firearm…”
Tucson City Councilman Steve Kozachik claimed that the statute is unconstitutional and as a result supported the continued violation of it.