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Arizona Gun Store Owner Re-Arrested on Terrorism Support Charges for Selling to CDS & CJNG Straw Buyers

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 “Socalj” for Borderland Beat

The owner of a closed gun shop in Sierra Vista, Arizona, a small town of 40,000 people near the Mexico border was indicted for a second time last week on charges related to providing material support to CJNG and CDS, Mexican cartels that were designated as foreign terrorist organizations, FTOs in 2025. 

Laurence Gray, 65, of Hereford, Arizona a former FFL (federal firearms licensee) under Grips By Larry, and owner of gun store The Other Guys Guns & Ammo is the first US citizen to be charged for Attempting to Provide Material Support to a Foreign Terrorist Organization and Conspiracy to Provide Support to a Designated Foreign Terrorist Organization in relation to arms trafficking.

Gray, the owner of Grips by Larry, a formerly federally licensed firearms dealer in Arizona, was previously indicted for firearms trafficking offenses in 2025, alongside a second individual, Barrett Weinberger, 73, of Tucson, Arizona. The original charges against both men included trafficking in firearms, aiding and abetting the straw purchasing of firearms, and aiding and abetting material false statements during the purchase of a firearm. In addition to more firearms charges, last week’s superseding indictment added material support to terrorism charges against Gray.

The indictment alleges that Gray knowingly attempted to provide firearms to CJNG in May of 2025, and knowingly conspired to provide firearms to both CJNG and CDS that same year, after the two cartels had been designated as FTOs in February of that year.
The store had opened around a year prior to the shutdown of the store and initial arrests, the Mayor of Sierra Vista made a promotional visit to the gun store in August 2024; posting on Facebook.

One of the photos posted on the Sierra Vista Mayor’s social media.

“Walking on Wednesday (WOW) with Larry and Vonnie Gray, owners of The Other Guys Guns Ammo & Accessories [r]ecently opened to the public, Larry offers a wide range of firearms, ammunition, and accessories to meet all your needs. Their inventory includes top brands like Winchester, Remington, Glock, Smith & Wesson, Daniel Defense, Kimber, Vortex, Leupold, and many others.


WOW – If there is a gun that you’ve always wanted, you can find it at this shop. Larry – I might be back for those shirts….all of them …….. if I can convince my wife lol!
Community First, People Always”

2025 ATF Operation

Laurence Gray, owner of The Other Guys Guns, Ammo & Accessories in Sierra Vista, and Barrett Weinberger, an employee were initially indicted by a federal grand jury on June 3, 2025 on 9 felony counts related to illegal firearms sales, false statements, and straw purchasing. 
On Wednesday, August 20, 2025 agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) conducted an extensive operation at the Fry Boulevard gun store.
The three men were arrested on federal charges in what prosecutors describe as a criminal firearms trafficking operation involving military-grade rifles, straw purchasers, and alleged connections to cross-border trafficking.

The charges against the men stem from an investigation by the ATF, which alleges the men coordinated multiple gun sales to individuals prohibited from possessing firearms, including convicted felons.

Court documents outline a series of alleged illegal gun transfers beginning in February 2025. In two separate sales that month, Gray and Weinberger are accused of selling Colt 1911 semi-automatic pistols to individuals who were legally barred from firearm possession.

On April 14, the pair allegedly arranged the sale of three additional military-style weapons: a Barrett M82A1 .50 caliber semi-automatic rifle and two FNH M249S Para belt-fed rifles, chambered in 5.56x45mm.

These firearms were allegedly sold in violation of federal law, with prosecutors stating that straw purchasers, individuals who buy guns on behalf of others, filled out ATF Form 4473 falsely affirming they were the actual buyers.

A third man, David Prince, also affiliated with the store, was charged separately. Prince was arrested June 11 during the law enforcement operation at The Other Guys. He was accused of acting as a middleman in the firearms transactions and was charged via criminal complaint with facilitating purchases and connecting buyers to Gray and Weinberger.

According to the complaint, Prince “assisted in facilitating the purchase, payment, and transfer of firearms from Weinberger and Gray to buyers, including convicted felons and cartel associates.”

The complaint against Prince states that ATF conducted at least two controlled firearm purchases involving defendant Prince in March and April 2025. These operations were carried out using a confidential source operating under government direction and surveillance. The complaint alleges that Prince served as a broker and middleman, connecting the source with Gray and arranging the sale of firearms to individuals prohibited from owning them.

In one controlled buy detailed in the complaint, Prince is accused of introducing the confidential source to Gray at his business. The source, acting at the direction of federal agents, allegedly purchased a Colt 1911 .38 Super pistol for $1,700, paid to Prince in advance. The weapon was transferred at the shop after the source signed ATF Form 4473, falsely claiming to be the actual buyer. Prosecutors allege this was a straw purchase, made on behalf of a third party.

Sonora Cartel Connections

The buyer for whom the gun was allegedly intended is described in the affidavit as a convicted felon and, according to Prince, someone with ties to Mexican organized crime.

The complaint states that Prince told the source the intended recipient was “a Cartel associate with experience operating in Sonora, Mexico,” and had previously been arrested for cartel activity. Prince allegedly said the man “had a price on his head” and that the guns were for his organization’s use.

Prosecutors say Prince used encrypted and disappearing messaging apps to arrange payments and pickups, including relaying a $9,000 down payment on behalf of one of the buyers.

“Ammo Andrew” US Marine

In a separate ATF investigation, a 23-year old U.S. Marine was arrested for A Marine previously assigned to Camp Pendleton, California, is accused of stealing at least one Javelin anti-tank missile system and 5.56mm ammunition from the base and selling them in Arizona, court records show.

Cpl. Andrew Paul Amarillas, 23, has been indicted in connection with what prosecutors allege was a nearly four-year-long scheme to steal military equipment, according to court records. At the time of his March 5 arrest, he was training at Quantico, Virginia, ahead of his next assignment to the U.S. embassy in Myanmar.
Prosecutors accuse Amarillas of stealing a Javelin anti-tank missile system; M855A1 Enhanced Performance Round (EPR) ammunition; and M855 non-EPR ammunition from Camp Pendleton between February 2022 and November 2025, court records show.

Amarillas pleaded not guilty last Thursday. AZ Family first reported the allegations against him.

After enlisting in the Marines in 2021, Amarillas was assigned as an ammunition technician specialist to the School of Infantry-West at Camp Pendleton from February 2022 until this January, during which time he was tasked with handling and transporting explosives and ammunition.

Amarillas is accused of stealing the Javelin in 2024, bringing it to Arizona, and selling it, along with a mix of 5.56mm ammunition that was stolen at other times, to two unnamed people who were described in court records as unindicted co-conspirators, who shared a picture of the stolen munition before reselling it, the indictment says.

After undercover law enforcement officers recovered the stolen equipment in October 2025, the Javelin and ammunition were traced back to the School of Infantry-West, where records indicated that Amarillas had signed out for them, according to the indictment.

A cell phone seized from one of the people involved had Amarillas saved as “Ammo Andrew” in his contacts, and numerous messages”from Amarillas and others about the stolen equipment were allegedly found on the phone.

Amarillas is accused of writing in one text message that he had:

“Just [got] some javs and some other ones,” adding, “[I] have 2 launchers that [I] think you’d like, if you want to take a look tomorrow.”

Amarillas later destroyed his own phone to cover his tracks and he told his parents that he had accidentally driven over it, a separate court document says.

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