Mayor declares Tombstone 'Second Amendment City'

Image 1 of 4

For more than a century, Tombstone has been known as the home of the Gunfight at the O-K Corral. The city's nickname is "the town too tough to die." Now, the small southern Arizona town is making headlines for a new reason.

A wild west town with a wild new idea.

"We're about rights, we're not advocating any violence," said Gordon Anderson, owner of the Larian Motel.

Maybe not, but Tombstone's tourism industry is built on violence that happened at the O-K Corral. This new motto though is an old reminder about guns, and the right to have them.

Welcome to Tombstone, "America's Second Amendment City."

"The mission is to educate people on Tombstone's core beliefs. Its history, its current history and its future.

Anderson's family has owned a motel fro more than four decades. He and a friend wanted to come up with a way to make a statement, while getting some new eyeballs on their old frontier town.

"In this political environment, we see the need to let the world, America know our core beliefs and our values and what we stand for."

After revealing the slogan on Tuesday night, everyone seems to be on board.

"I've had about 95 percent positive feedback," he said.

Anderson says part of it is because residents know who they are.

"Guns have always been important in Tombstone, on the western Frontier, they're used every day in America to defend themselves."

Tombstone Mayor Dusty Escapule signed the proclamation naming Tombstone "America's Second Amendment City." The proclamation does not change any existing laws or ordinances but they mayor says it is a symbolic way for the city to show support for the right to bear arms.

Escapule says Tombstone is the only city in the country with such a proclamation. He said he hopes other mayors in Arizona step up and proclaim their city as a second amendment city.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.