A state judge has ruled Pima County, Arizona, can’t fine residents $1,000 for failing to report lost or stolen guns within 48 hours.

On Tuesday, Arizona Superior Court Judge Greg Sakall ordered a permanent injunction against the county’s ordinance. He sided with gun-rights plaintiffs who argued the measure violated a state law designed to prevent localities from implementing their own gun restrictions. He even allowed plaintiffs to seek lawyer fees from the county.

“[T]he final judgment shall include a permanent injunction against the implementation or enforcement of Pima County Ordinance 2024-2,” Judge Sakall wrote in ACDL v. Pima County.

The ruling is a win for gun-rights activists who’ve sought to enforce pre-emption laws across the country. Consequently, it’s a setback for gun-control advocates who’ve looked to push the boundaries of those same laws. It may discourage other localities in states with similar laws from implementing similar lost and stolen reporting laws.

“Today’s ruling is a significant victory for the rule of law, for gun owners statewide, and for the state’s ability to prevent rogue cities and counties from creating a confusing patchwork of local firearm restrictions,” Parker Jackson, a Goldwater Insitute lawyer representing the plaintiffs, said in a statement.

The Arizona Citizens Defense League and Chris King, backed by the Goldwater Institute, brought the case shortly after county supervisors voted to approve criminal punishments in March 2024. The ordinance required residents to report a lost or stolen gun to police within two days of when they “knew or reasonably should have known that the firearm had been lost or stolen.” Supervisors originally proposed that the penalty for violating the ordinance be $300, but that was more than tripled at the request of county attorney Laura Conover, who argued that it would give law enforcement more flexibility in trying to prevent illegal straw purchases.

“In 2023, the County Attorney’s Office handled more than 100 cases or crimes involving firearms committed by prohibited possessors, including six murder charges,” Conover wrote in a letter to the supervisors. “It is well established that reporting requirements, like the proposed ordinance, can assist us in keeping firearms out of the hands of people who should not, by law, have them.”

County supervisors were well aware that state law forbids localities from regulating firearms in most ways. However, they argued the law didn’t extend to reporting requirements for lost and stolen guns.

“Although A.R.S. § 13-3108 prohibits the enactment of any local ordinance relating to the transportation, possession, carrying, sale, transfer, purchase, acquisition, gift, devise, storage, licensing, registration, discharge or use of firearms, a reporting requirement for the loss or theft of a firearm relates to none of these issues,” they wrote in the ordinance.

However, the plaintiffs argued that the ordinance was not just a clear violation of state law but also sought to penalize the wrong people.

“I’m grateful the court recognized that Pima County officials are not above the law,’ Chris King, a county resident and Air Force veteran who had a gun stolen from his home while on active duty out of state, said in a statement. “Firearm owners like me shouldn’t have to pay exorbitant fines as punishment for being robbed.”

Ultimately, Judge Sakall sided with King.