Arizona Governor Jan Brewer on Monday signed legislation forcing municipalities to resell firearms from gun buy-back programs rather than destroy them, reports Reuters. Brewer, a Republican, is a staunch gun rights advocate. Before the new law, the state had allowed such firearms to be destroyed.
The bill had the support of the NRA and Arizona’s Republican-controlled legislature. It cleared the state Senate earlier this month by an 18-12 vote. The state House approved the bill in March. Supporters of the measure said municipalities were wasting taxpayers’ money by not realizing the revenue from reselling turned-in weapons. Opponents argued that it sent the wrong message and that the state needed to focus on the broader issue of gun control. One Democratic state senator called the new law “outrageous.”