Thread: Packing heat in AZ to become easier soon

New law taking effect, allowing concealed weapons, no training

Packing heat in AZ to become easier soon

Clayton R. Norman Arizona Daily Star
Sunday, July 25, 2010 12:00 am

The Wild West is about to get wilder - on Thursday, Arizona will join Alaska and Vermont as one of the states with the country's most liberal gun laws.

Senate Bill 1108 removes the requirement that gun owners must be trained and licensed to carry a concealed weapon.

Arizona already allows for "open carry" - anyone not legally prohibited from possessing a firearm, such as convicted felons or those adjudicated mentally incompetent, can carry firearms in public as long as they are clearly visible. After Thursday, the requirement that weapons be displayed openly will be dropped, and anyone who is not a "prohibited possessor" will be able to carry concealed weapons.

The new law will not remove restrictions on places where it is forbidden to carry weapons, including schools, hydroelectric or nuclear power plants, polling places, federal buildings or businesses that have posted specific signs prohibiting weapons. Establishments that serve alcohol will still be "no-carry" zones for those without a concealed-weapons permit, and gun owners will not be allowed to drink alcohol while carrying a weapon.

Also, anyone who carries a concealed firearm over the state line will need a concealed-weapons permit to avoid violating other states' handgun laws.

Despite the caveats, the new law enhances Arizonans' freedom, said Charles Heller, a radio talk-show host.

Heller is a concealed-weapons course instructor and secretary of the Arizona Citizen's Defense League, a group whose efforts are directed at "expanding the rights of law-abiding gun owners." He says the freedom to carry weapons and defend oneself from attackers is at the heart of the law.

Once the law takes effect, he said, "Innocent people aren't going to be harassed because their purse got set down on a car seat (and accidentally covered an openly displayed weapon) or their shirttail came out" and covered an openly carried weapon.

Heller said the law also removes a barrier to people who might want to carry concealed weapons but don't have the time or money to invest in a training course. Currently, a CCW - carrying a concealed weapon - course costs about $80 plus another $60 to the Department of Public Safety to issue the permit.

There are nearly 160,000 active concealed weapons permits in Arizona, DPS statistics show. About 26,000 of them - 16 percent - are held in Pima County.

DPS spokesman Bart Graves said the agency expects a decrease in applications for concealed-weapons permits once the law goes into effect. But he, along with many supporters of the new law, said he hopes people who want to carry weapons will still seek out some form of training.

Josh Katz, owner of The Armory on Pima, says he supports the new law because it strengthens the Second Amendment. But he urges people to get education and training in the use of their guns and their rights and legal responsibilities as gun owners.

"Let me be clear - I'm not opposed," he said. "The law passing is good, but people need to have some of the education involved in training for the license to carry concealed."

Local gun owner Dan Demer is licensed to carry a concealed weapon, and said he wouldn't mind more regulations on the process.

"I would feel safer if everyone was required to take courses," he said. "Most people that have gone through the classes are conscientious about handling weapons - it's a big responsibility."

Part of that responsibility is knowing what the law says about self-defense, Heller said. For example, the threat or use of force is not justified "in response to verbal provocation alone" or "if the person provoked the other's use or attempted use of unlawful physical force" in most cases.

The state laws that address the justifications for use of deadly force in Arizona can be found in ARS 13-401 through ARS 13-421 at www.azleg.state.az.us/ArizonaRevisedSta ... p?Title=13

Brian Malte, state legislation director at the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, said easing the prerequisites for carrying concealed weapons is a risky proposition. He's especially concerned about population density. Vermont and Alaska, the other two states that allow concealed weapons without a permit, each has fewer than 700,000 people. Arizona's population is about 6.5 million.

"Having loaded guns in crowded situations - on public transit or on crowded streets - is not a good idea," he said.

Tucsonan Mark Reinl-Bautista said he fired guns as a child but prefers not to own one now. He said he is concerned about the presence of guns in the community in general.

"I don't know if it makes them (people who carry guns) feel safer," he said, "but it doesn't make me feel safer."

Contact reporter Clayton R. Norman at cnorman@azstarnet.com or 573-4142.

http://azstarnet.com/news/local/govt-an ... 5fa8e.html

People from all across the United States will be moving to Arizona Illegals and their anchors leaving,and now as a legal citizen you have the right to actually protect yourself from criminals that will always carry guns anyway Where do I sign up I am already making my travel plans to get the !#$%^%$#k out of Caleeeeeeeefornia, and leave all the far left liberals behind with their ILLEGAL friends. Good luck with collecting enough taxes to keep the struggling state from perpetual default I will take my $70,000 per year MIDDLE CLASS job to Tempe Arizona and enjoy the new rays of sunshine that once made Caleeeeeeefornia the place ot be..... The once "GOLDEN STATE" has long since lost It's luster..... TS

yep...another new gun law that takes affect this Thursday is defensive display of a firearm. This new law allows you to display or place your hand or even remove your firearm in the downready position if you are facing a threat of bodily injury. Example would be you get out of your car at a store and some gang bangers approach and start making threats to kick your butt you can remove your firearm and display it in a defensive posture. No longer do you have to wait until a bad guy actually makes a move on you first before you have legal authority to use the threat or actual use of deady force to prevent serious bodily injury or death. This law levels the playing field against bad guys who rely on having the advantage over you. Before the new law if you removed your firearm you could be charged with felony aggravated assault for just trying to be in a defensive posture against a percieved threat. I am also a state certified fire arms instructor and support both the new laws. Bad people are already carrying concealed without a permit and thats a fact. I do recommend that people still take the 4-hour safety course to learn some basic firearm safety procedures and basic state firearms laws. I intend to continue renewing my permit just so I have flexibility to carry concealed in other states.

Originally Posted by topsecret10

People from all across the United States will be moving to Arizona . . .

Having been in Phoenix, Tucson and Yuma many times on business and seeing the temature at 90 or more at 8 p.m. and 100 to 112 all day every day for a week I would never live there in the summer. I left Florida many years ago for the same reason.

San Diego 7/25/2010 High 70° Low 62°

Originally Posted by JohnDoe2

Originally Posted by topsecret10

People from all across the United States will be moving to Arizona . . .

Having been in Phoenix, Tucson and Yuma many times on business and seeing the temature at 90 or more at 8 p.m. and 100 to 112 all day every day for a week I would never live there in the summer. I left Florida many years ago for the same reason.

San Diego 7/25/2010 High 70° Low 62°

I lived In San Diego for 4 years... I lived In Tempe Az for 2 years. I will take Tempe and leave the Illegals behind In Caleeeeeeeeefornia

SB 1070 and gun law in effect on same day

On the same day that SB 1070 is scheduled to go into effect (depending upon what a federal judge decides), another new Arizona law goes into effect, this one allowing any adult to carry a concealed weapon without a permit or training.

Here’s the headline: ‘World NOT coming to end’

Each of these laws will no doubt generate a tremendous amount of news coverage.

Neither will generate any actual news.

The fact that SB 1070 takes effect does not mean that Arizona will suddenly rid itself of all of our illegal immigrants. Given the fact that suspects in any criminal investigation have rights to due process means that SB 1070 will not rid us of ANY illegal immigrants for quite some time. If at all.

Likewise, the streets will not suddenly flow red with blood owing to what outside media will portray as our “Wild Westâ€