waving goodbye to the 2023 Legislative session
We have reason to be hopeful
JULY 17 2023
Although the Arizona State Legislature has not officially declared the end of session, our tracking of firearms bills has come to an end until 2024.
The very good news is that Gov. Hobbs vetoed all eight of the bad gun bills that passed the legislature this session (one bill remained stalled). Among other things, her actions kept concealed weapons off our school and university campuses.
As usual, this session saw some good gun bills proposed, ranging from safe gun storage to preventing public access to schools' blueprints (in order to conceal them from bad actors). However, none passed. That must change!
Every year we see the legislature pass reckless bills that jeopardize our safety. Since elections matter, this year the winning combination of a veto pen and your support stopped more bad bills from becoming law.
Your phone calls, emails and use of RTS gave the Governor certainty that she was reflecting the will of the people with those vetoes.
While Governor Hobbs has set records with her number of vetoes, it’s clear that in 2024 — an election year — we must select and elect candidates who believe in delivering public safety as a key function of government.
Let’s work together to produce a different “good news” report on gun safety: one in which we can celebrate the passage of bills that truly make our state a safer place!
MARCH 22, 2023
The 56th Legislative Session of the Arizona legislature has clearly shown both the benefits and disadvantages of divided government.
Having failed to hold onto all three levers of government (legislative, executive, judicial), the Republican majorities in the legislature have doubled down on:
· Undermining public education
· Fueling the culture wars
On the plus side, Governor Hobbs has already vetoed a record number of bills.
In the area of gun safety legislation, much is the same as it has been for the last few years. The majority of bills introduced advance public safety without in any way infringing on the right to own and bear arms.
Of the 12 House bills and three Senate bills we supported this year, only one was actually put on a committee agenda — and it was pulled from the agenda at the last minute.
Of the nine House bills and 10 Senate we opposed, the focus tended to be putting guns on school campuses.
Bill sponsors in both the House and Senate put a lot of energy into promoting the concealed weapon permit (CCW) as the key to allowing guns on the grounds of K-12 schools, universities and community college campuses.
Knowing full well these bills would be unenforceable if passed, they pressed forward to allow parents with CCW permits to enter the grounds of any school their offspring attend with a concealed weapon.
Highly deceptive testimony by sponsors and lobbyists suggested that there is intensive training required for CCW permits.
The truth is there is no standardized regimen for a CCW permit, with courses ranging from as much as two days to as little as an hour or two online.
At this point in time, there is reason to hope that much of what the current legislature is putting forward will be vetoed. But Governor Hobbs needs to know that this is what the majority of Arizonans want and expect her to do.
You can email the Governor by using the form here.
If we want to give her a chance to sign some commonsense gun safety bills, we need to change the makeup of the legislature.
JANUARY 9, 2023
We believe we can repeat the success of last year’s efforts in stopping dangerous gun bills in the Arizona legislature. Your continued commitment to this important work, and the commitment of our new Governor to block dangerous legislation, opens the door to a new day for gun safety.
Those who seek to expand access to firearms have not hung up their holsters, however.
The bills are still coming, and our activism is still needed. Some of the bills we’ve seen before are being reintroduced as well as some troubling new ideas. We will fight those battles as they arise, but for now, we're asking you all to warm up your Request to Speak (RTS) passwords and try something different. (Don't have an RTS account? Get one here.)
Representative Jennifer Longdon, herself a victim of gun violence, has introduced a wide range of gun safety bills. Most have been assigned to committees, but will need our help in order to be heard in those committees.
One thing we're asking everyone to do is to use RTS 2.0 to show your support for these bills. RTS2.0 is a phrase coined by Civic Engagement Beyond Voting to describe a process that you can use before a bill is assigned to an agenda to be heard in committee. (See how RTS 2.0 works in this video.)
RTS 2.0 allows you only to give a “thumbs up” or “thumbs down,” but will be a tally of the support or opposition to a bill that can spur a committee chair to bring a bill forward for a hearing. It can also be used by the bill’s sponsor or other members of the committee who want to have the bill heard.
Using RTS 2.0 is easy and fast. We timed ourselves and it took us 4 minutes!
- Begin by signing in to your RTS account and clicking on the big blue RTS button.
- Select “My Bill Positions” from the left-hand column.
- Enter a bill number from the list below in the box, then click the bill title when it drops down.
- GIve it a thumbs up, click “Add” and move on to the next bill number. Repeat.
Please take 4 minutes to support the bills below. You will see that those opposed to them are also using RT S2.0, so we need your help to outnumber them!
HB2177 would require surrender of concealed weapon permits when sentenced for crime that would make one a prohibited possessor
HB2178 would require pediatricians to provide gun safety information
HB2179 would remove guns from those convicted of domestic violence
HB2180 would create a 3 day waiting period for firearm purchases
HB2181 sets standards for firearms dealers that would reduce straw purchases
HB2182 would require all gun sales and transfers go through federally licensed dealer, have background checks
HB2183 would require validating concealed weapons permits are current when guns are purchased
HB2184 severe threat order of protection
HB2185 would exempt sales tax for firearm storage devices
HB2192 would create a civil penalty if unsecured guns result in their being used to kill or injure
HB2193 would raise the age for possessing or owning a firearm to 21
There is more that can be done. Most of these bills are assigned to the House Judiciary Committee. Select the bills that are most important to you. Then call or email Rep. Nguyen, qnguyne@azleg.gov, 602 926-3258. He is Chair of the Judiciary Committee and determines which bills will be heard and which will not. Ask him to allow the bills above to be heard in committee.