The following is the opinion and analysis of the writer:
Wendy Million
For years, studies have shown a correlation between possession of firearms, high-risk domestic violence relationships, and community safety. These situations pose risks to the victims and their families, risks to law enforcement responding to domestic violence calls, and risks to the public when firearms are used in the workplace, or in public places like courthouses and houses of worship. Additionally, many violent criminals with firearms also have histories of domestic abuse.
I have presided over Tucson City Court’s Domestic Violence Court for 14 years. Many of the convicted offenders in the court have multiple convictions for domestic violence crimes, have used firearms or other weapons, or strangled their victims.
Any kind of probation for domestic violence makes an offender a state prohibited possessor for the term of that probation, and many defendants pending charges are also ordered not to possess firearms as a condition of their release.
Additionally, all the courts in Pima County issue domestic violence protective orders that allow the judicial officer to order a defendant to transfer firearms and possess no firearms if the case appears to be high risk.
In these cases, judges and the law have required defendants to transfer firearms for a specific period, and to possess no additional firearms for that same period, but until recently, there was no ability or method to enforce our orders.
In 2023 we started using our Firearms Technical Assistance Grant from the federal Office of Violence Against Women. We were able to design a program and hire a part-time Firearms Coordinator who tracks the firearms orders and follows up on the transfer of firearms. We also funded a high-risk advocate from Emerge who can connect to these at-risk victims. Unfortunately, the grant expired on January 31, 2026, and OVW’s promise of new grant opportunities has not come to fruition.
Arizona Supreme Court Chief Justice Ann Scott-Timmer’s Strategic Agenda includes a focus on courts working with law enforcement agencies to improve these firearms transfer procedures statewide, and other courts around Pima County are developing procedures also. It would make sense for the courts and governments to work together to set up these systems for improved communication and coordination.
A jointly funded full-time Regional Firearms Coordinator and two high-risk advocates for Emerge Center Against Domestic Abuse would further the City’s Safe City Initiative goals and ensure that all the courts in Pima County were working together to protect domestic violence victims and respect the rights of firearms owners.
A Regional Firearms Coordinator could work with all Pima County courts to collect protective orders with firearms transfer orders and follow up with their service and return of required documents. The Coordinator could work with the law enforcement agencies to confirm transfer of firearms under any court orders: protective orders, conditions of release and probation cases. The Coordinator could ensure that prohibited possessors were entered into federal databases to make sure they could not purchase new firearms from licensed dealers, and assure they were removed from those databases, and firearms cleared for release when the court orders were no longer in effect. This work would also enhance local law enforcement’s partnership with the US Attorney’s office on firearms, since many state prohibited possessors are also federal prohibited possessors.
The high-risk advocates could expand their work from City Court to any Pima County court; taking referrals from the courts as they issue firearms transfer orders and staying in touch with the victims as the cases worked their way through the court system.
Of course, the best protective orders issued by judges trained to recognize domestic violence risk factors are only effective if they are served on the defendant, so each law enforcement agency would have to ensure they were following best practices. Protective orders with firearms transfer provisions should be served by law enforcement officers who can take those firearms at the time of service, which is more effective and infinitely safer than relying on a defendant to transfer the firearms themselves.
By supporting this type of program, Pima County would become a nationwide example of how a coordinated community response improves victim safety and community safety.
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