Amid uncertainties to Axon’s future ability to do business in Arizona, Texas says the weapons and technology company is welcome to move there.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott put out his offer publicly shortly after reports emerged in which Axon leadership said they may abandon their desired new global headquarters in Scottsdale and move on to another state.
Axon told Fox News that their move would be to either Texas or Florida. The company began in Scottsdale over 30 years ago and became a top weapons developer internationally for its invention of the taser in the early 1990s. Axon is also considered a pioneer in the development of body cameras for law enforcement.
“If Arizona doesn’t want you, Texas will welcome you,” said Abbott. “We’re always ready to add more opportunities and jobs for Texans. Pro-business, pro-growth, and pro-innovation—that’s the Texas way.”
.@axon_us: If Arizona doesn’t want you, Texas will welcome you.
We’re always ready to add more opportunities and jobs for Texans.
Pro-business, pro-growth, and pro-innovation—that’s the Texas way. https://t.co/WpZeNVHbjC
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) April 2, 2025
Last week, Axon CEO Rick Smith said he would take the company out of Arizona should a certain bill, SB 1543, fail to pass. The bill, SB 1543, seeks to bypass local zoning restrictions by enabling Axon and other future corporations to build hotels and housing for corporate headquarters. In Axon’s case, that would amount to nearly 2,000 apartments. The bill came through as a “striker” amendment — a total rewrite of an existing bill as a backup for Axon’s failed immediate rezoning effort at the local level.
“I’m being thrown out, and I’m fighting with every ounce of energy I’ve got to keep the company here,” said Smith.
Smith said Axon’s presence would be limited to an industrial center should the bill fall through, which would mean warehouse-level jobs and pay instead of the tech-level jobs promised by Axon. Smith said the former outcome would be “crazy” policymaking.
“If we leave, we will sell that land, and it will go back to its original zoning, which is industrial, and that will be something most likely a shipping and fulfillment center, with semi trucks trucking deliveries in and out,” Smith said. “If that’s what local residents want, if you’d rather have $15 an hour warehouse jobs than $300,000 a year tech jobs – I mean, we got to get the crazy out of politics in Arizona.”
Axon promised to bring around 5,500 jobs and generate $38 billion over the next decade with its new headquarters.
Taxpayers Against Awful Apartment Zoning Exemptions (TAAAZE) successfully stalled the rezoning by qualifying it as a ballot question for voters in the November 2026 election. TAAAZE collected more than enough signatures (over 25,000) to force a ballot vote after the Scottsdale City Council initially approved Axon’s rezoning plan last November.
TAAAZE chair and former Scottsdale Councilman Bob Littlefield said SB 1543 was against the will of the voters to develop over 70 acres of property in northern Scottsdale to include the thousands of apartments, a hotel with over 400 rooms, and seven restaurants.
“The purpose of its legislation is to do an end run around Scottsdale voters and cancel a November 2026 election which would decide the fate of Axon’s unwanted 1,900-unit apartment complex,” said Littlefield.
Littlefield promised to challenge SB 1543 in court if the Arizona legislature and Governor Katie Hobbs approves it.
