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Last month, the Arizona Supreme Court struck down a Tucson city ordinance that allowed for the destruction of confiscated firearms in violation of state law. Since 2013, 4,820 guns either seized by police or turned in by citizens have been destroyed—a policy that the NRA noted is designed to deliberately suppress legal gun ownership in the state.
Earlier this week, the Tucson City Council—comprised of seven Democrats—voted 4-3 to end the practice and withdraw its legal challenge to SB 1487. As the Arizona Daily Star reports, the city would have had to forgo $57 million in state-shared revenues if it defied the high court ruling.
The total value of the guns destroyed is estimated by the Star to be around $600,000. Rep. Mark Finchem claims that one alone was a collectible worth more than $10,000. In the next few months, the city will finally transition to auctioning off seized or turned-in guns to licensed gun dealers.
