A southern Arizona gun store owner is facing federal terrorism charges after prosecutors allege he attempted to supply military-grade weapons to two of Mexico’s most powerful and violent drug cartels — organizations that the U.S. government designated as foreign terrorist organizations earlier this year.
Laurence Gray, 65, of Hereford, was arraigned Wednesday in a Phoenix federal courtroom on charges of attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization and conspiracy to do the same. Gray owns Grips By Larry, a former federally licensed firearms dealership.
Prosecutors allege that on May 31, 2025 — roughly three months after the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion was officially designated a terrorist organization by the Secretary of State — Gray knowingly attempted to provide firearms to the cartel. He is also accused of conspiring with others to supply weapons to both CJNG and the Sinaloa Cartel over a period spanning from late February through mid-June of last year.
The weapons involved were not ordinary firearms. Court documents allege Gray trafficked military-style hardware including two .50-caliber rifles — an Ohio Ordnance M-2-SLR and a Barrett M82A1 — along with two FNH M249S belt-fed rifles, weapons designed for combat rather than civilian use.
Gray had already been facing federal firearms trafficking charges stemming from a June 2025 indictment that also named a Tucson man, Barrett Weinberger, 73. The new superseding indictment layers terrorism charges on top of those earlier counts and adds additional firearms violations specifically against Gray. Each terrorism charge carries a potential sentence of up to 20 years in prison.
The prosecution is being pursued under Operation Take Back America, a Justice Department initiative launched in March 2025 as part of the Trump administration’s broader push to dismantle cartel networks operating across the U.S.-Mexico border.
Gray’s next court date is set for April 3rd, with a trial potentially beginning May 5th.
