The new bill passed the Senate 18-12 on Tuesday, and is now headed to Gov. Jan Brewer’s desk for approval. If Brewer signs it into law, then all surrendered guns will be sold to licensed firearms dealers, who can then offer them for resale in their stores.

Senate President Andy Biggs (R-Gilbert) argued that this would defeat the purpose of surrendering firearms, since owners would then be better off selling the weapons themselves and raking in the extra cash. The whole point of surrendering them, he said, is often to take them off the market.

Sen. Steve Farley (D-Tucscon) cited an example that demonstrates the effect of such a law on the controversial resale of murder weapons. Jared Lee Loughner, an Arizona man who pleaded guilty to 19 charges of murder and attempted murder for the 2011 shooting in which US Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was severely injured, had his gun seized from him upon his arrest. Last year’s law requires law enforcement to resell seized weapons – meaning that Loughner’s 9 mm Glock pistol would have been back on the market. The latest bill broadens this law to bring all firearms, regardless of their history, back onto the shelves of firearms dealers.

State Sen. Steve Gallardo (D-Phoenix) urged the legislature to stop wasting time on such bills and instead start a serious conversation about gun ownership.

But proponents of the new legislation believe that there isn’t much they can do to stop the violence – and that the state should be concerned about saving money where it can, as well as providing the public with weapons to protect themselves from malicious people.

“Many here in this body want to blame 30-round magazines and semiautomatic weapons for violence,” Sen. Judy Burges (R-Sun City West) told the legislature. “Unfortunately, murder, violence and insanity are built in to the human condition and likely always will be…

we create more predators.”

Sen. Rick Murphy (R-Glendale) tried to steer the debate in another direction, telling the Senate that the bill is “about protecting taxpayers”, and should not invoke a debate on gun rights.

If the bill passes – which is likely, since Brewer is a devoted gun advocate – it will be illegal for any cities or counties across Arizona to destroy weapons, regardless of how they were acquired or what they were used for in the past.