Arizona Preemption Law (sp?)

HarryB

New member
http://www.accessarizona.com/news/2000/04/26/guncontrol.html

New law restricts local gun control
PHOENIX (AP)--A year after vetoing a bill to bar Arizona communities from enacting their own restrictions on guns, Gov. Jane Hull has signed a compromise version enacted by the Legislature.

A response to a Tucson ban on guns in parks, the bill (HB2095) signed Monday by Hull will generally prohibit local governments from regulating possession, transportation, carrying, sale or use of guns and ammunition.

However, the bill allows local governments to prohibit people without concealed-weapons permits from having guns in designated and posted areas of parks and preserves.

Other provisions allows school districts to continue to ban guns from school property and require cities that prohibit guns in municipal buildings to provide gun owners with a safe place to leave the weapons.

Hull last April vetoed a more sweeping preemption bill, saying she objected to prohibiting local gun restrictions without instead providing any statewide regulation.

Gun-rights advocates argued that local ordinances set up a mishmash of conflicting laws that were confusing and burdensome.

"We now have a whip to keep the circus animals in city governments across Arizona under control when they attempt to attack our civil liberties and we will not hesitate to use it," said Todd Rathner, spokesman of Tucson-based Gun Owners of Arizona.

The new law will take effect in mid-July.
 
This bill, which started as a short, two-paragraph bill written by Arizona activists was hijacked by the NRA and turned into a six-page mess.

If this were New Jersey, it would be a good thing. But it is Arizona, and we found that the NRA had given up the farm, all of our bargaining chips in the first meeting with the Governor.

New to Arizona:

1) Open-carriers are now second-class citizens with CCWers being able to carry in more places.

2) Cities are statutorially (instead of just a bad court decision) allowed to ban non-CCWers from parks.

3) Cities may now ban their employees and contractors from carrying in their own defense.

4) There is nothing to keep the cities from naming all sorts of public property a "park" thus creating the very patchwork quilt of gun laws that we were trying to avoid with the original, clean bill.

5) New and confusing (ripe for prosecutorial abuse) rules on peaceful carrying of firearms by otherwise lawful youth...

and so on.

Like I said, "reasonable gun laws" if you are from Rhode Island. A big step backward for Citizens of Arizona.

Rick

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"Congress have no power to disarm the militia. Their swords, and every other terrible implement of the soldier, are the birth-right of an American." Tench Coxe 2/20/1788
 
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