need some guns??? have the government buy them for you!!! Original Article Pinal weapons probe leads to review of purchasing By Sara Thorson and Mike Branom Tribune December 1, 2005 Pinal County supervisors are reviewing how assets are bought and handled following a sheriffs office fact-finding investigation which revealed County Manager Stan Griffis purchased more than $21,000 in firearms and accessories with county funds. The firearms were purchased earlier this year with money from the account of the sheriffs volunteer posse, of which Griffis was a member and certified firearms trainer until resigning earlier this fall. That account was later reimbursed with money from other county accounts, a sheriffs office report states. All but one of the weapons have been returned, according to the investigation. A Springfield Armory M21 (SOCOM) .308 tactical rifle worth more than $2,900 is missing. County spokesman Joe Pyritz said Wednesday the purchases were brought to the attention of the Board of Supervisors in September. That was when the investigation started in response to multiple complaints received from within the posse. "The board is reviewing its policies and procedures regarding fixed asset management, relating to the posse," Pyritz said. When the supervisors finish the policy review, they will make a report to the county attorney, Pyritz added. The supervisors were unavailable for comment Wednesday. Griffis said the uproar stems from a misunderstanding over which departments should have been billed for the purchases, made in the spring. The receipts turned into the county had a notation of "posse," Griffis said; that was to show the weapons were for the posses training, although the money was to come from his office and the countys contingency fund. Instead, the posse itself was billed. "If it wouldnt have been for that one accounting inaccuracy, nothing ever wouldve been said about it," Griffis said. "And Id still be teaching firearms at the sheriffs office." Griffis, in an e-mail sent in September to a county supervisor, said he considered the arms his "duty weapons" for instruction. That also was why he kept them where he did in his vehicle and in his home. Griffis, 63, the countys top appointed official since 1989, plans to retire next month. Contact Sara Thorson by email, or phone (480) 898-6574. Contact Mike Branom by email, or phone (480) 898-6536.