What’s the Republican response to workplace violence? More guns, at least in Arizona. And how about packing heat in a restaurant that serves alcohol? Good idea, as long as the shooter . . . uh . . . armed citizen, doesn’t drink alcohol.
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A nice pistol to conceal in a pocket while dining in a restaurant--if the AZ GOP legislature has its way. (AP Photo/Pat Sullivan)
They’ve tried passing these laws before and failed, so now they’re at it again. This time they have the support of tens of thousands of NRA members meeting in Phoenix for their annual convention.
And what about common-sense ideas like giving condo owners the right to prevent pistol-packing neighbors from coming onto their property with a weapon? Or strengthening laws against carrying weapons onto college campuses? The suggestions died in committee, of course. (Too rich!)
Here’s the latest report on this contentious issue from J.J. Hensley of the Arizona Republic:
The National Rifle Association will bring more than 50,000 visitors to downtown Phoenix for its national convention later this week, but the group's presence has already been felt at the state Capitol.
If the NRA gets its wish, registered gun owners in Arizona will be able to keep weapons locked in their cars outside of a business, regardless of the business' policy on weapons in the workplace; they'll also be allowed to bring guns into certain restaurants that serve alcohol.
The guns-in-cars legislation, House Bill 2474, moved out of the House on Thursday and its sponsor, Rep. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, expects it to pass through the Senate.
"I think there'll be some Democratic votes, too. The Republican Party does not have a monopoly on the Second Amendment," he said.
Kavanagh said the NRA brought the proposed legislation to him earlier this year, and the gun-rights group is pushing for states to enact similar laws around the country.
He's not alone. Rep. Frank Antenori, R-Tucson, also sponsored a bill with the NRA's backing this session, that would allow gun owners to bring firearms into restaurants that serve alcohol, provided the gun owner doesn't drink and the restaurant gets more than half its profits from food sales.
Antenori's legislation never got a hearing, but it should live on in the Senate, where Sen. Jack Harper, R-Surprise, inserted the language in another bill, Antenori said.
Both Kavanagh and Antenori characterized the NRA-backed legislation as striking a prudent balance between the rights of gun owners and the rights of businesses.
"We've got several documented cases of people that were assaulted in parking lots. They were leaving the gun in their car because they couldn't take it in the restaurant," Antenori said "They're forced to disarm themselves because the law states you can't have a firearm in any place that serves open-container beverages."
Antenori said the language in the legislation was tweaked to satisfy Arizona restaurant owners, including a provision that prohibits the gun owner from drinking, which the legislature will revisit in 3 years.
"They're not going to Olive Garden or Chuy's to drink alcohol. There's no ill-intended purpose to do that," he said.
Rep. Chad Campbell, D-Phoenix, said, as a gun owner, he could have supported Kavanagh's bill if there were certain exemptions, such as for condo owners who don't want weapons outside their homes.
"The fundamental problem I have with both these bills is you're infringing on private property owners," Campbell said. "There is room for common ground here, but so far the other side has been unwilling to work. There's a balance in everything we do down here. That's our job is to find a balance to protect people's rights."
Kavanagh and Antenori are not alone in bringing legislation that could affect gun owners. A pair of Democrats proposed bills that would increase penalties for falsifying information when buying weapons and for bringing guns onto college campuses. Neither bill made it out of committee, but both legislators promise to bring the bills back next year.
Other bills:
House Bill 2484.
What it does: Would make it a Class 4 felony to knowingly falsify or misrepresent the identity of a buyer in the sale of a deadly weapon. The statute would also be added to the list of crimes that could be considered racketeering, opening up the chance for law enforcement to seize cash and material from violators.
Why it was proposed: Rep. David Lujan, D-Phoenix, said he brought the bill after working with the Attorney General's Office to close a loophole in state law.
The current law forces prosecutors to prove the weapons were used in a criminal operation; prosecutors cite that as a key reason the state's case against Mesa gun store owner George Iknadosian fell apart earlier this year.
"It's just all about giving prosecutors additional tools to go after individuals who are purchasing under false pretense," Lujan said. "I intend to bring it back next year and work even harder to try to get it passed."
House Bill 2386.
What it does: Would extend the ban on carrying a weapon without a permit to colleges and other postsecondary institutions, and make the violation a Class 6 felony.
Why it was proposed: "The impetus is obvious from the devastation we saw at Virginia Tech. There are certain places guns should not be allowed. It's just common sense," said Rep. Ed Ableser, D-Tempe.
Comments
Dear Mrs Jordan
I have a question about the Gun use in the US. Lots of people round the world like the US and would like to come to the US as tourists.
What shell they think about the gun use. We see a lot of cimestories on TV form the US and also some reality tv soaps.
Is a person save if it walks on the streets in somewhere of Arizona. Remember in the most of the other countries in the world the gun law is very restricted. So the people feel much more save on the street. If I hear the stories about the shoting in the street and so many people are in jail I would say guns are a threat for publik peace. You have to do something against it because someday there will be no tourist in Arizona. Remember outside of the US People have not so much contact with guns like in the US. For those People it feels very dangerous to go on hollyday in the US.
After Bush you will have some new visiters which have a complet other picture of the US as you know before.
MfG
Wieland Kerschner Hamburg Germany
Thanks for the info Debbie.
When will the NRA be happy? When will the public wake up? Guns are simply out of control in this country. We need more gun control, not less.
You know, my first job out of college had me making courtroom exhibits for the state attorney's office, and one of the cases I helped with was the Moon Smoke Shop/Famous Sam's/Firefighter's Union hall murder spree that happened 10 years ago in Tucson. Let me tell you, they were gruesome. What these men did was utterly inhuman, and they deserve whatever punishment can be dished out in this life, or the next. But you know what else it was? Illegal. Laws aren't magic. They don't stop criminals, but they do stop decent, law abiding citizens from defending themselves. I've seen what that looks like, and it isn't pretty. So I'm 100% with the AZ GOP in support of ending these foolish prohibitions on the fundamental human right of self-defense.
So, the next time you sit down to write some screed about "common sense" gun control, think back to that pamphlet that Thomas Paine penned, Common Sense. If he had to register his printing press and pass a Crown competency test and promise, upon pain of imprisonment and the confiscation of his property, not to print anything that might upset others, or incite violence, or God forbid, foment a REVOLUTION, we'd be as surveilled and taxed and regulated (even our speech! But I guess you would like to ban Michael Savage from this country, too) as all the other subjects of the U.K are today. But there was, at the time, a widespread respect for the fundamental human right of free expression.
It's a shame you people have stolen the word liberal from the real classical liberals who founded this country with the enlightenment values of maximum personal freedom and a minimal state (and ask Lysander Spooner about how far they fell short) in mind. The only thing you're liberal about is the application of government to any problem you see, which is essentially the use of VIOLENT FORCE to make people behave as you wish. The only "progessive" action I see is the continued progress of government intrusion into every aspect of our lives, backed up, as it always is, by men with guns. So, just come out and "cop" to your love of and infatuation with guns (used aggressively, not as we 2A folks would have it, in defense ourselves and loved ones), those of you on the left, because that's clearly your favorite solution to any problem. Point a gun at whoever is acting up and make them do as we say! No wonder you like those Che Guevera t-shirts so much. That was one of his favorite solutions too, but it usually ended with him pulling the trigger.
Oh boy! Now Arizonans can join Texans in the Great American Shoot 'em ups! Y'all can have kids breaking into your cars to steal your guns so's they can shoot one another. Y'all can have kids takin' your guns to school to shoot their teachers. Y'all can have folks shootin' one another to death in parking lots, in restaurants, at the Piggy Wiggly (that's the market, in case you didn't recognize the name), and at the McDonald's, over a cup of Joe in the mornin' -- hoo doggies! Y'all are gonna have a good time! 'course y'all may need to hire some more undertakers. But then I hear tell the OK Corral is in your fine state so mebbe Boot Hill still gots room for expansion.
Good article Debbie! To bad those wanting health care reform don't have a lobby as powerful as the NRA! Our priorities in this country are nuts!
The 2nd Ammendment exists as a precautionary method of allowing U.S. citizens to defend themselves from #1, the tyranny of Government and #2, from the criminal element inherent in any society. The common sense reasoning of the founding fathers has never lost it's luster with the practical minded Americans, who realize the inherent corruption of government officials, never more blatant than in the current administration. When the administration won't secure the borders and congress won't bother to read the bills it passes and doesn't even care where all the money goes, people need to defend themselves because the present administration of amateurs doesn't have time to catch up on their reading to realize they don't know what they don't know.
The NRA may be a strong lobby, but it's not as strong as some of us would like it to be. The Planned Parenthood and National Organization for Women lobbies are much more effective, and succeed in pedaling abortion, human fetus killing and are racking up more kills legally everyday. Now that's powerful lobbying. Guns don't kill people, people do....no matter what their tools of choice....In a country that has little regard for the most innocent of it's almost ready-to-be born human members, any argument about gun ownership immorality is pointless. If one chooses not to defend the unborn, then that society needs guns because there is no morality left in that government or in it's people..
40 other states already have this law. Is blood flowing in the streets? No,
Portland Progressive Examiner says we need more gun control?
Let's look at the violence in cities with strict gun controls like Washington DC, Chicago, New York City.
Criminals do not obey laws, did it stop the shooting at Virginia Tech, no, if some of those students had been armed they may have stopped him before so many died.
You may choose to not defend yourself(makes no sense to me)but do not take away my right to do so.
Am I paranoid? No, just reasonably cautious. Do you lock your home and care doors, have a smoke detector, any type of insurance? Is this paranoia or just reasonable precautions?
It is better to have a gun and not need it than to need it and not have it.
I keep my gun in my car when I go to work, my car is MY personal, and private property, my employers parking lot is merely private property in the legal sense, but the shopping mall where I work is for all intents and purposes "public". I carry to and from work. And regardless of laws, I will continue to carry. I've carried "illegally" before, and will do it again. I've carried onto private property with clear "no guns allowed" signs. I do not care. I see a sign, or some piece of paper in a state or national capital that says "you can not carry a gun" and I say "So?" I WILL continue to act as I see fit, and will not let others dictate my behavior. Guess what you can do about it? Not a damn thing. You won't see my gun until it comes out to save an innocent life, which may be yours as well as mine. Hopefully, it will never come to that. But than, I also carry a fire extinguisher, doesn't mean I go around waiting to put out fires.
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