The Goldwater Institute filed a lawsuit against Pima County in late April over a new ordinance that levies fines against gun owners who fail to report stolen weapons within 48 hours after learning they are missing, it confirmed Monday.
Pima County’s ordinance requires gun owners to report guns lost or stolen within Pima County to local authorities under penalty of a $1,000 fine should gun owners take longer than 48 hours.
The ordinance was pushed by Supervisor Rex Scott and received four votes in favor and one against, with Scott claiming the ordinance will hinder “straw purchasers” who claim weapons are stolen to avoid paperwork associated with sale, according to Tucson Sentinel.
The outlet reported Scott claimed the ordinance means “straw purchasers will be prevented or deterred from claiming that a firearm if they bought and gave to a prohibited possessor was lost or stolen in an unreported theft. And on the prohibited possessor side, this will prevent or deter them from falsely falsely claiming that their firearms were lost or stolen when law enforcement attempts to take them.”
According to The Goldwater Institute, the ordinance violates Arizona state law which prohibits local governments from imposing gun laws which are stricter than those approved by the Arizona State Legislature.
“Arizona law broadly prohibits political subdivisions from enacting almost any kind of firearm-related ordinance,” the conservative group declared in a summary of its lawsuit. It charged, “The Pima County Board of Supervisors is the latest local government entity to thumb their nose at the state’s firearm statutes by unlawfully enacting an ordinance that subjects firearm owners to fines of up to $1,000 for failing to report the loss or theft of a firearm to the government within 48 hours.”
The Goldwater lawsuit cites A.R.S. § 13-3108, which precludes local governments from enacting an ordinance that “relates to firearms and is more prohibitive than or that has a penalty that is greater than any state law penalty.”
According to The Goldwater Institute, “The ordinance is more prohibitive than state law because state law does not impose a reporting requirement on gun owners in the event of loss or theft of a firearm. Additionally, state law does not impose a penalty on those who fail to report firearm loss or theft to local authorities.”
Known for litigation for conservative causes, The Goldwater Institute in February sued the U.S. Department of Education over its $40 million fine of Grand Canyon University.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Guns” by Neon Tommy. CC BY-SA 2.0.
