Chairman Quang Nguyen (R-Prescott) (pictured above, left) and Vice-Chair Selina Bliss (R-Prescott) (pictured above, right) of the Arizona House of Representatives Judiciary Committee have sent a letter to the Phoenix City Council asking its members to rescind a recently-approved ordinance that allows for the transfer of approximately 500-600 unclaimed firearms to the National Police of Ukraine.
Calling the Phoenix City Council out on their unlawful behavior! pic.twitter.com/M9YjZkAahd
— Dr. Selina Bliss (@SelinaBliss) July 5, 2023
The National Police of Ukraine is the national police service of Ukraine.
At its June 28 meeting, the council approved Ordinance S-50010, allowing the city to select “approximately 500-600 unclaimed firearms to transfer through Gruelle, a private company which provides export and import services.”
Guns are branded as “unclaimed” when an owner does not come forward after a 30-day notice, according to the Phoenix Police Department.
“Gruelle will transfer to the National Police of Ukraine. Only 9mm, 45mm, 39mm and 12 gauge firearms will be sent. Firearms are unclaimed when there has been no owner contact after a thirty day notice, in which case the City can dispose of them,” the ordinance’s summary states.
Calling the ordinance “unlawful,” Nguyen and Bliss explain that under Arizona law, “Political subdivisions are prohibited from enacting any ordinance relating to “the possession, sale, transfer, purchase, acquisition, or use of firearms in Arizona.”
“Unclaimed firearms may only be sold – not donated – and the buyer must be a ‘business that is authorized to sell receive and dispose of the firearm under federal and state law and that shall sell the firearm to the public according to federal and state law, unless the firearm is otherwise prohibited from being sold under federal and state law,’” the state lawmakers add.
“Because the Ordinance is plainly unlawful, we urge you to immediately repeal it,” Nguyen and Bliss note, requesting a confirmation from the council.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Arizona Sun Times and The Star News Network.
Background Photo “Phoenix City Hall” by Azwatchdog. CC BY-SA 3.0.
