NEWS

Arizona lawmakers take aim at federal gun laws

Ronald J. Hansen
The Republic | azcentral.com
Arizona lawmakers are taking aim at new federal gun laws.
  • Senate Bill 1330 would presume new federal action on gun laws is unconstitutional.
  • The bill could be an early test of powers voters gave the state last year to challenge Washington.
  • It also could test how far Gov. Doug Ducey is willing to go on expanding gun rights.

Arizona lawmakers moved closer to another legislative challenge to Washington, D.C., on gun rights Tuesday, giving preliminary approval to a bill that would authorize the state to ignore all new federal gun laws.

Described as the "Second Amendment Protection Act" by its main sponsor, Sen. Kelli Ward, R-Lake Havasu City, an amended Senate Bill 1330 would ban the state from spending money on or helping enforce new firearms-related rules from Washington and would effectively presume any new federal moves on firearms are unconstitutional.

The bill could be an early attempt to make use of the voter-approved Proposition 122 which empowers the state to challenge federal matters it deems unconstitutional.

The Senate recommended SB 1330's passage on a simple voice vote but still must take a roll call vote to send the measure to the House of Representatives. The Senate also has yet to take up SB 1460, another Ward bill that would end the state's ban on sawed-off shotguns and silencers.

The House of Representatives passed House Bill 2320, which would allow concealed weapons in public places and events. That is similar to measures former Gov. Jan Brewer vetoed three times. The Senate hasn't voted on the latest effort to pass the bill.

All of the measures represent potential tests of Gov. Doug Ducey's support for expanding gun rights. During his campaign last year, he cast himself as a supporter of the Second Amendment but has not elaborated on how, if at all, he differs from Brewer.

"We have got to take these things into our hands. We have got to assert our states' rights," Ward said of SB 1330. "We should not be leaving everything in the hands of the judiciary. The judiciary is not the end-all, be-all check and balance. We are all checks and balances of each other."

"This pits Arizona against the United States," said Sen. Martin Quezada, D-Phoenix, who urged his colleagues to vote against SB 1330. "That's not how we should be perceiving our relationship with the federal government. ... We can regulate who has access to guns. We can enact regulations that affect public safety but also respect the Second Amendment."

Ducey has declined to discuss the pending bills. From quick passage of a civics-test requirement for high-school graduation to an austere budget that largely tracked his own proposals, Ducey has enjoyed an extended political honeymoon with the Republican-controlled Legislature.

Any gun measure could serve as the first real measure of how far Ducey is willing to follow the Legislature.