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!