I suck and haven't made an azcdl thread for this year, but better late than never...I'm sure (at least I REALLY hope) most people here already get these emails, but a lot of times they get buried, or we forget or there are newbie lurkers, whatever the case, I want to put these out so we don't forget and get lazy. As always, if you're not yet a member, please go here and join!

Latest azcdl email:

Legislative Update

We’re now over 3 weeks into the Arizona legislative session.  Over 1,500 bills have been filed.  Monday, February 3, was the Senate deadline for bills to be filed.  The House deadline is this coming Monday, February 10.  Relevant bills that AzCDL is tracking, and their status, are on our Bill Tracking page.

Over two dozen bills have been filed to restrict your right to keep and bear arms, mainly by Democrats.  Most are duplicates of bills that are filed year after year.  Four of those bills, HB 2322, HB 2545, HB 2546 and HCR 2018, would outlaw private firearms transfers that don’t go through an FFL.  There are three “red flag” firearms confiscation bills, HB 2321, SB 1164 and SB 1626.  There’s also a bump stock ban, an “assault” weapons ban, and even a bill requiring doctors to lecture patients on the “risks” of firearm ownership.  We encourage you to review our Bill Tracking page for the full list of these bills.  With your help, we can defeat them before they get to the Governor.

On the plus side, there are five Republican sponsored bills, supported by AzCDL, that are aimed at protecting your rights.

HB 2093 (Leo Baisiucci  - LD 5) - Would make any act, law, treaty, order, rule or regulation of the U.S. government that violates the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution null, void and unenforceable in Arizona.  Prohibits political subdivisions from using any personnel or financial resources to enforce, administer or cooperate with any act, law, treaty, order, rule or regulation of the U.S. government that violates the Second Amendment.

HB 2721 (Bob Thorpe - LD 6) - Unless prohibited by the owner or the owner’s agent, firearms possession would be allowed in a building or structure that is a “public accommodation,” which is defined as “owned or operated by a religious organization, association or society, a nonprofit institution or organization that is operated, supervised or controlled by or in conjunction with a religious organization, association or society or a public or private hotel, restaurant, theater or museum.”  The owner or the owner’s agent of a public accommodation would not be liable for the acts of a person “who is otherwise justified in using deadly physical force” pursuant to ARS Chapter 4.

HCR 2033 (Frank Carroll LD - 22)  - A resolution that the members of the Arizona Legislature "reaffirm their commitment to support and defend the rights and liberties of the citizens of Arizona as guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of Arizona, including the right to keep and bear arms as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States" and "encourage all citizens of Arizona to support and defend their right to keep and bear arms as guaranteed by the Constitutions of the United States and the State of Arizona."

SB 1664 (David Gowan - LD 14)  - Would make government entities that establish gun-free zones liable for damages by anyone harmed because they were unable to defend themselves.

SB 1665 (David Gowan - LD 14) - Would reduce the penalty to a class 3 misdemeanor for being armed in a polling place, or a state or local government facility that bans firearms.  Currently the penalty is a class 1 misdemeanor.

We’re closely watching the progress of all legislation, good and bad.  In order to proceed all bills must be reviewed and debated in committees in their originating chamber (House or Senate) by February 21.  With over 1,500 bills already in the pipeline, many bills will not meet that deadline.

As committee hearings are scheduled, we will call upon you to register your opinion on bills in the Legislature’s  Request to Speak (RTS) system.  Your RTS “votes” and comments are shared with all committee members and carry more weight than sending an email.  If you have an existing RTS account, please log in to make sure your account is still active.  If you are a current AzCDL member and do not have an existing RTS account, please reply to this message with your name and email address and we’ll assist you in setting up an RTS account.  If you have created an RTS account in the past, a duplicate one cannot be created. If you created your RTS account online, it cannot be used for contacting committee members about bills.  Your account must be “activated” at an official RTS terminal.  We can help you with that.

Stay tuned!

Thanks for posting this up. I am a member but if we keep this thread coming up it might get a few more people to join.
I used to live in another state and the AZCDL organization is a tremendous asset to all gun owners in AZ. Everyone on this
forum needs to be a member.

Joined a few weeks ago. How do I set up RTS?

If I remember correctly, you need to either go to the state capitol or can reach out and give info to someone and they'll make you an account. I just can't remember who...here are emails to some helpful people though, someone here will definitely be able to help.

Press, media and general queries should be directed to
Charles Heller, [email protected], (520) 870-2700.
AzCDL’s directors and officers are listed below.

President - Dave Kopp, [email protected], (Legislation)
Vice-President - Michael Gibbs, [email protected]
Secretary - Tom Woodrow, [email protected]
Treasurer - Fred Dahnke, [email protected], (623) 242-9086  (Membership)
Director - Ed Martinez, [email protected]
Director - J.D. “Duke” Schechter, [email protected]
Media Coordinator - Charles Heller, [email protected], (520) 870-2700  (Communications)
PAC Administrator - Drake Mitchell, [email protected]

Just joined 5 mins ago. Better late than never I guess.

It sure is, congrats and thank you!

I set Amazon Smile to donate to AZCDL.

Please note the part in red, your vote must be BEFORE the 13th. If you don't have an RTS account already, please reach out to an azcdl person by email (a couple posts above have emails listed) to get it setup ASAP. With how things are going, we will be using them a lot this year...

RTS Action Alert

On Thursday, February 13, the following bills, that AzCDL supports, will be heard at 9 AM in the Senate Judiciary Committee:
SB 1556 - Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform.
SB 1664 - Would make government entities that establish gun-free zones liable for damages by anyone harmed because they were unable to defend themselves.
Details about these and other bills we are monitoring can be found at our Bill Tracking page.

Your RTS “vote” supporting these bills must be entered before the February 13  hearing.

To voice your opinion on these bills, visit the AZ Legislature Applications page, sign into your RTS account, click on the big blue “Request to Speak” icon in the middle of the page, then click on the “New Request” icon on the left side of the page.

A new window will open up.  In the “Search Phrase” line, enter the bill number without SB (e.g., 1556 or 1664) and click on the blue “Search” button below the Search Phrase.

Your search results will appear below the “Search” button as in the example below.

Click on the blue “Add Request” button on the right side of your search results to bring up your voting page.  For these bills we ask that you click on the “For” (thumbs up) button.  Unless you plan on attending and testifying at the hearing, always answer “No” to the “Do you wish to speak?” question.

The anti-rights folks are planning on showing up to protest the passage of these bills.  We encourage everyone receiving this to come to the Capitol, attend the hearing and share their thoughts with the committee members.

Thanks for taking the time to make a difference!  Your RTS “vote” carries more weight with committees than an email or phone call.

Committee hearings will be a priority in the coming weeks.  The deadline for bills to be heard in committees in their originating chamber (House or Senate) is Friday, February 21.   As important bills are scheduled for committee hearings, we will notify you via these alerts.

RTS is maintained by the Arizona State Legislature.  Valid RTS accounts can only be created at official terminals located at the Capitol or the State offices in Tucson.  If you are a current AzCDL member and do not have an existing RTS account, we will be happy to assist you in setting up an account.  Simply reply to this message and request our help.

If you have an existing RTS account, a duplicate account cannot be created, you must use your existing account.  If you created your RTS account online, it needs to be “activated” at an official RTS terminal.  We can help you with that.

I moved here in December. Just joined after reading this thread.

Glad to hear that and glad to have another patriot in Arizona! Welcome! There is the other thread with a rally happening this weekend, plus an Arizona Battle Buddies thread to get out and meet some people while hiking (while the weather is still bearable...). Glad to have you here and hope to see you at an event!

That's a good point too. If you shop at Amazon, go to smile.amazon.Com and use that site instead of plain ol' amazon.Com and you can choose a charity that amazon will donate a portion of your orders to. Azcdl is on that charity list, and it costs you nothing extra. So if you haven't already, please do that as well to help keep azcdl funded, thanks!

For everybody.  Call or Email Fred , Treasurer - Fred Dahnke, [email protected], (623) 242-9086 (Membership)  to get set up on RTS.  

Gila Bend Second Amendment Sanctuary Hearing

The Gila Bend Town Council is meeting on Tuesday, February 25 to debate and vote on a Resolution to declare Gila Bend a “Second Amendment Sanctuary City.”  The meeting will be held at the Gila Bend School District Media Center located at 308 N. Martin Avenue, Gila Bend, Arizona.  The meeting starts at 6:00 PM.  Please plan on being there before 5:30 PM.

If you are unable to drive to Gila Bend for the meeting, you can also provide oral and written comments to the City of Gila Bend Town Counsel at https://www.gilabendaz.org/83/Mayor-Town-Council.

Whether or not you can attend, we ask that you to contact the Gila Bend Town Counsel and urge them to support the resolution to make Gila Bend a Second Amendment Sanctuary Town.

We need to fill the room with Second Amendment supporters!  Come one, come all!  Just like the 2A Rally at the Capital, come let your voice be heard and your numbers felt.

If you are interested in organizing to make your City, County or Reservation a Second Amendment Sanctuary, please contact Drake Mitchell at [email protected]. Information is also available at www.AZ2A.org and the "Arizona Second Amendment Sanctuary Movement" Facebook page.

These alerts are a project of the Arizona Citizens Defense League (AzCDL), an all-volunteer, non-profit, non-partisan grassroots organization.  AzCDL – Protecting Your Freedom.  Copyright © 2019 Arizona Citizens Defense League, Inc., all rights reserved.

ETA Post 223 on 2/23!

AzCDL Political Action Committee (PAC) Dissolution

After careful consideration, the Board of Directors of the Arizona Citizens Defense League has decided to discontinue our Political Action Committee. All associated activities, including the PAC website and Facebook page, PAC candidate ratings, and PAC fundraising will also cease. Legislative voting records will continue to be produced by AzCDL and made available each election year.

Given the increasing complexities of election dynamics over the last several years, along with the greatly increased political contribution limits, we have come to believe that our ability to make an effective contribution to legislative and statewide electoral contests has been minimized. In addition, the legal and regulatory compliance aspects of keeping the PAC running require a great deal of time and effort on the part of our dedicated volunteers. These expenditures of time and energy have come to outweigh the minimal benefits they produce.

Our organization’s core purpose has always been grassroots mobilization, encouraging civic engagement and influencing public policy. Recently, we also started a tax-exempt foundation to encourage and promote firearms safety and marksmanship training. Our continuing fundraising efforts are better directed towards achieving those goals.

The PAC will be shut down in accordance with Arizona law and all remaining contributions will be distributed to appropriate pro-rights candidates for office. We want to extend our deepest appreciation to the volunteers who kept the PAC running over the years, and especially to our members who contributed to it in an admirable effort to elect more pro-rights candidates. We hope all of you will continue to support our efforts to promote pro-rights legislation and firearms safety and marksmanship training. Thank you for your support.

Gun Free Zone Liability Bill
Scheduled For Senate Debate

SB 1664 is expected be debated in the Arizona Senate on Wednesday, March 5.  This legislation will impose a civil liability on state and local government entities for persons harmed by criminal conduct in a "gun free" zone when the person harmed could have been helped by being able to possess a firearm.

We have prepared an email for you to send to your Senator urging them to support SB 1664 in the Committee of the Whole (COW) debate and subsequent Third Read Senate vote.  You may send it as is or customize it with your own comments.  It only takes a few mouse clicks to make a difference.

If you get the emails, click the link in your email, if not, go to azcdl to find the email to send out.

And it failed. I honestly didn't expect it to get this far.