PLEASE CIRCULATE WIDELY!
SB 1629, which reduces the penalty for carrying a concealed weapon without a permit for otherwise law-abiding citizens, passed the House Rules committee on April 17, 2007. It is now headed for debate and vote by the House Committee of the Whole (COW) on Thursday, April 19th. SB 1629 cleared the full Senate on March 8th by a vote of 20-8. On March 26th, SB 1629 passed out of the House Homeland Security and Property Rights (HSPR) committee by a vote of 6-4.
The enemies of your rights have been pulling out all the stops to kill SB 1629, but AzCDL has been countering them every step of the way and, with your help, keeping SB 1629 alive. It's time to put pressure on every House member to vote for this important bill, and send it on to the Governor.
If you are not committing, or attempting to commit, a serious or violent crime, SB 1629 reclassifies carrying a concealed weapon without a permit as a petty offense for the first violation, and as a class 3 misdemeanor for subsequent violations. Under current law, if you have not been issued a concealed weapons (CCW) permit, it is a class 1 misdemeanor to carry a concealed weapon. Everyone is treated like a hardened criminal. Sadly, because of a couple of 1994 Appellate Court decisions:
· If a casual observer cannot easily see your firearm, you are carrying concealed and could be arrested.
· Wearing a gun in a vehicle = concealed carry. Without a permit you are subject to arrest.
· Having a CCW permit and wearing a gun in a vehicle puts your non-CCW permit passengers at risk for being arrested for carrying concealed without a permit.
SB 1629 separates the innocent mistake by otherwise law-abiding citizens from the cold-blooded actions of hardcore criminals. SB 1629 even adds the "attempted commission of a serious offense" language to the law, to assist law enforcement in arresting the true bad guys.
The passage of SB 1629 will not be accomplished without serious support and activism from YOU! Please send a letter to all House members urging that they vote for SB 1629. Below is a cut-and-paste letter you may use or modify. Following the letter are the email addresses of the House members in both semi-colon and comma separated formats. Use the list compatible with your email software.
Subject: Vote for SB 1629
Dear Representative:
The Arizona Citizens Defense League (AzCDL) has informed me that SB 1629 will soon be heard in the House Committee of the Whole (COW). There is solid bipartisan support for this bill. I urge you to vote for SB 1629.
Under current law it is a class 1 misdemeanor to carry a concealed weapon without a permit, regardless of the circumstances. Only about 1% of the Arizona population has concealed weapons permits, largely because the Arizona Constitution protects the right to "open carry." However, because of 1994 Appellate Court decisions:
· There is no clear, objective standard in statute that I can rely on to determine if I am violating the law.
· If a casual observer cannot easily see my firearm, I could be arrested for carrying a concealed weapon.
· Even with a permit, wearing a firearm in my vehicle puts my passengers at risk for being arrested.
SB 1629 only reduces the penalty for otherwise law-abiding citizens attempting to comply with a statue clouded by court decisions. The bill retains the ability for law enforcement to arrest real criminals. SB 1629 even adds the "attempted commission of a serious offense" language to the law to assist law enforcement in arresting those criminals who are intent on committing a crime while carrying a weapon.
Again, I strongly urge you to vote for SB 1629.
Sincerely,
Your Name
Street Address
City, AZ zip-code
(telephone number)
House members in semi-colon format:
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[email protected]House members in comma format:
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[email protected]We will keep you informed on the progress of SB 1629 and other important legislation.
Information on this and other bills can be found at the AzCDL website: http://www.azcdl.org/html/legislation.html
These alerts are a project of the Arizona Citizens Defense League (AzCDL), an all volunteer, non-profit, non-partisan grassroots organization. Join today!
AzCDL – Protecting Your Freedom
http://www.azcdl.org/html/join_us_.html
Copyright © 2007 Arizona Citizens Defense League, Inc., all rights reserved.