Any weapon capable of firing 10 or more rounds can no longer be sold at the Tucson Convention Center.
The Tucson City Council voted unanimously Wednesday night to add more restrictions on private gun sales at the city-owned venue.
Gun-control advocates, including several victims of the Jan. 8, 2011 mass shooting in Tucson, were in the audience, some wearing orange shirts and holding signs that read βwe can end gun violence.β
Former U.S. Rep. Ron Barber, who was among those injured in the mass shooting, said Congress has failed to enact sensible legislation. He thanked the council for taking the steps to ban the sales on city-owned property.
It is unlikely the new regulations will make a dent in local gun sales β it has been more than three years since there was a private gun show at the TCC.
More likely is the possibility that the new restrictions will be challenged in court, as a new state law going into effect next month states that no city or other municipality can enact restrictions on gun sales that are tougher than state laws.
In other action: Rainwater harvesting
The City Council also voted Wednesday to create a $150,000 pilot program aimed at low-income families to encourage rainwater harvesting as well as reuse of gray water.
The program, to be run by Tucson Water, would include Spanish-language ads to encourage families to install systems to irrigate fruit trees, landscapes and lawns without using potable water.
Many low-income families canβt afford the costs, even with rebates, officials said earlier this week.
One estimate suggests the costs for a single family to buy cisterns and modify landscaping can easily exceed a few thousand dollars.
TEP rates
The council also sided with local residents with solar panels on their roofs, opposing a proposed rate plan from Tucson Electric Power.
TEP has asked the Arizona Corporation Commission to make significant changes to the costs associated with rooftop solar arrays, cutting the price paid for excess energy while increasing the monthly charge.
Home owners, as well as representatives from the solar industry, told the council that TEP was being hypocritical β paying less for energy created by solar panels on private homes while at the same time charging customers more for energy harvested by TEP-controlled solar farms. No TEP officials spoke, but the utility has said in the past that it must recover its costs.
The council resolution will be forwarded to the ACC, which will decide whether to approve the rate increase.
