Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich urged the state Supreme Court to declare that the city of Tucson’s practice of taking guns seized by police and destroying them rather than selling them to be illegal. Since 2013, more than 85 percent of the guns seized by police or voluntarily turned in by citizens have been destroyed. The NRA has said that this policy is designed to “deliberately suppress” legal gun ownership in the state.
Republican state Rep. Mark Finchem filed a complaint last October challenging the 2005 Tucson ordinance. But when city officials refused to change their policy, Brnovich sued. He cited a 2016 law that declares that local governments in conflict with state limits can do one of two things—repeal the ordinance or forfeit state aid.
Should the Arizona Supreme Court rule in Brnovich’s favor, the state would then be able to legally withhold tax money from Tucson.
