Hi guys, I moved away from Tucson way back in 1984.  The "big gun" store in town then was Jensen's on Pima (especially for the l.e. group, I think they might've been the preferred shop?). I certainly left a healthy bit of my paychecks there lol. I know they expanded and then years later ended up closing after what sounds like a real screw up.  Murphy's was just getting going, The Marksman on 29th was the indoor range, my dad and I belonged to the Tucson Rod and Gun Club which I know also closed years ago.  Frontier on Grant was a funky little shop and I found quite a few interesting older guns in there.

My question is on my first visit in a looong time which shops should I stop in to visit?  I'll be bringing copies of my dealer's ffl in case I find some cool things, I tend to look for older Smith and Wessons (pre 1980) so is there one or two places in particular I should go to?

Also I have some historical questions about PCSO and TPD through the 70's if anyone would like to offer up a willingness to help a bad writer working on my first book, fiction, that would take place in/around Tucson.  I remember a few nefarious names from back then-I even used to go to the same Walgreen's as Joe Bonanno, would see him every now and then at the copy machine lol.

Well thanks for any suggestions, feel free to reach out either here or through email-having an issue getting notifications of pm's.

Be safe.

The Jensens on Pima is now Second Amendment Sports, they are probably the largest shop in town other than Sportsman's Warehouse.  The Jensens on the West side is now a second Marksman location.  Tucson Guns out on the far East side has some older stuff.  I believe Murphy's is still around, but I haven't been there in years, same with Frontier.  Most of the other shops in town that I have visited tend to have a poor selection of older guns.

I don't believe I could help much on nefarious criminals from the 70s or early 80s, because I was in short pants then.  However, my mom worked as a home health nurse for Bonano in the early 80s.  She had some interesting stories from her time dealing with him.

Thanks for info on the shops!   I'll have a max of two days in Tucson, haven't finalized my plans yet. I'll have my own vehicle so I'll have plenty of freedom to map out the stops at the shops.

For used guns, Murphy's is the best and 2nd Amendment is probably the second best.

Diamondback Shooting Sports and Tucson Guns are both worth checking out as well.

It's funny the stores are pretty much the same locations from mid-80s, just a couple different names.

My mom lives in a mid-town patio home development supposedly built by Joe as a money-laundering venture. Believe he lived there for years.



Really? Haven't been in there in ages.  Tip from past years' visits (let us know if no longer valid): Wave/hop around when you enter and the boys at the counter might break loose of their pow-wow to see what you want.  Maybe.

The Walgreen's was at the corner of Campbell and Grant where I'd see "Joe Bananas".  He lived in a neighborhood near there.  His federal case was the one I believe that led to the law being once you threw out trash in a trash can it wasn't your property any longer.  The FBI exchanged their own for his and that led to his last arrest I believe.  An FBI SA by the name of Bill Roemer was instrumental in that case.  If I remember right one of Roemer's sons was a weather guy on one of the local tv channels.

There was also "retired" Peter Licavoli, another old family guy.  There were the Norman brothers as well. And of course pre-dating all those guys there was John Dillinger hiding out in the Hotel Congress in 1934 until a fire forced an evacuation, he and his gang were rounded up a couple of days later in a house.  Crazy what went on in Tucson lol.

How are things now?