Three Republican members of Arizona’s House of Representatives are demanding an investigation by the Maricopa County Attorney of Phoenix city officials who created an ordinance illegally donating firearms to Ukraine.
Arizona House Speaker Pro Tempore Travis Grantham, Judiciary Committee chairman Quang Nguyen, and vice-chairman Selina Bliss claimed that Phoenix’s Democrat Mayor Kate Gallego and city council members ignored warnings that donating firearms “violated state law.”
In a letter to Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell, a Republican, the legislators wrote that they “insist that you investigate these unprecedented actions for potential criminal violations” of Arizona’s criminal code Title 13.
“The mayor and city council members must also be held fully accountable for facilitating crimes of others through their illegal transfer of weapons, including—but not limited to—domestic civil offenses, war crimes, and organized crimes” under state law, the legislators wrote.
Shortly after the council voted to adopt the ordinance, Mr. Nguyen and Ms. Bliss filed an SB 1487 request with the attorney general’s office, triggering the investigation and a report on Sept. 26.
In her written legal opinion, Attorney General Kris Mayes, a Democrat, found that Phoenix city officials intentionally violated state law by approving the June 28 ordinance that led to the illegal donation of 599 unclaimed firearms to Ukraine’s national police force.
‘Indisputably Aware’ of Illegal Donation
The letter added that the city “did not address the alleged statutory violations or otherwise provide legal authority supporting its position” to explain how its ordinance authorizing the donation of 599 unclaimed firearms to Ukraine’s national police force complied with state laws.“In fact, the city was indisputably aware of those state laws and the ordinance’s illegality as early as July 3, when we alerted them that the ordinance is unlawful and demanded an immediate repeal of the ordinance.”
“Following that investigation, the city had no choice but to repeal its ordinance within 30 days or risk losing state shared revenues,” the three Republican lawmakers wrote.
The council repealed the ordinance in late September, although some members voiced their disappointment that state law prohibited them from acting locally regarding the disposal of firearms.
The lawmakers said the attorney general’s report also noted that “when faced with the threat of an investigation, the city’s counsel ”disclosed that the city has already completed the transfer of the firearms contemplated by the ordinance and the agreement” with an international broker in Pennsylvania.
“Undeterred, when the city learned that the attorney general would not halt her investigation based on this factual development, the city ’terminated the agreement by written notice and urged the [Attorney General] to find that this action mooted' the investigation.”
‘Criminal Liability’
“Neither the AG’s report nor the city’s repeal of its ordinance absolves the city mayor or council members of criminal or civil liability for their misconduct,” the three legislators wrote.“Although we agree with the attorney general’s ultimate legal conclusion that the ordinance unambiguously violates state law, significant and unsettled legal and factual questions remain.
“To this day, the city has refused to disclose to us the date that they illegally sent the firearms abroad.”
“In a free society, it is critical that our elected officials follow the rule of law, even when they may disagree with the underlying policy of the law.
Mr. Nguyen told The Epoch Times that the request for a county investigation represents “the next step” to address official conduct that was “not incidental [but] willfully, knowingly” violating state law.
“It isn’t an ‘Oops! Sorry. We didn’t know,’” he said.
Mayor Gallego’s office has yet to respond to an email seeking comment from The Epoch Times.
A spokeswoman for Ms. Mitchell told The Epoch Times that her office received the joint letter and has “begun an initial review of the law and the facts and [is] evaluating next steps.”
Arizona state law limits the sale of unclaimed firearms to licensed dealers and allows cities and towns to resell them after 30 days.
The estimated resale value of the 599 firearms, which included semi-automatic pistols and rifles capable of firing ammunition used by the military, was around $350,000.
Mr. Nguyen said that despite his inquiries, the whereabouts of the firearms cache remain unknown.
