Governor Jan Brewer has now acted on all six gun-related bills passed by the Legislature this session -- and vetoed half of them.
Earlier this week, Brewer vetoed two of the bills, one that would have allowed guns in more public buildings and another that would have created more restrictions against a city trying to make its own gun regulations. On Wednesday, Brewer vetoed a third gun-related bill, which would have made the act of trying to take someone's gun from them a crime of felony aggravated assault.
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-Jan Brewer Vetoes Two Pro-Gun Bills
In her veto letter, Brewer said, "Current law already provides appropriate penalties for the conduct described in this legislation."
Grabbing a police officer's gun is considered felony aggravated assault under current law, but that doesn't apply to any other firearm carrier.
HB 2339 would have allowed concealed carry permit-holders to take their weapon inside any public establishment, excluding buildings with security guards that screen everyone for weapons, as well as educational institutions.
Brewer pointed out that she vetoed similar legislation in 2011 and 2012, and lawmakers didn't bother to correct the issues that Brewer found with those bills before passing this year's version.
The other one Brewer vetoed was House Bill 2517, created specific penalties for violations of state law that includes prohibitions on counties and cities making their own gun regulations, like the City of Phoenix-sponsored gun-buyback programs that were outlawed last year.
In Brewer's veto letter, she said courts can already deal with this issue and can probably deal with the issue better, with consideration to the facts of a case. She also was "troubled" with a provision that called for the firing of anyone involved in violating that law.
Those three bills might not seem like traditional "pro-gun" bills, but a quick search of right-wing opinion websites shows some people are upset with Brewer's vetoes.
Meanwhile, she signed three gun bills into law. One prevents police from carrying a firearm while they're consuming alcohol at any licensed liquor establishment, another lowers the concealed-carry weapon age to 19 (from 21) for military personnel, and the other essentially legalizes backyard shooting, as long as the person isn't a "nuisance" and lives at least a quarter-mile away from the nearest building or has the building owner's permission, plus some other stipulations.
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