Arizona Legislature Passes Five Gun-Related Bills

No Arizona legislative session is complete without some attention paid to guns.

The Senate this morning voted to approve five gun-related bills, the majority of which generally would be considered pro-gun bills, naturally.

Here's a quick summary of each bill:

• HB 2517: Although state law already includes many prohibitions on counties and cities making their own gun regulations, including the gun-buyback programs that were popular in Phoenix, this bill creates penalties for violating those laws, like a $5,000 fine against the government official whose agency violated the laws, and calls for their firing, among other things.


• H.B. 2483: This bill prevents cities or counties from "regulat[ing], through a zoning ordinance, the otherwise lawful discharge of a firearm or maintenance or improvements directly related to the discharge, on a private lot or parcel of land that is not open to the public on a commercial or membership basis." However, it includes stipulations that you can't be negligent or be found to be a "nuisance" if you're shooting on your property.


• H.B. 2339: This bill allows 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. It does not, however "limit, restrict or prohibit the existing rights of a private property owner, private tenant, private employer or private business entity."


• H.B. 2338*: The caveat to this one is that it was amended slightly in the Senate, so it still needs approval from the House again before it's passed on to the governor. It's already illegal to attempt to take someone else's gun from them, but this bill makes it a specific crime: aggravated assault, a class-four (one being the highest, six being the lowest) felony.


• H.B. 2336: Under current law, off-duty and retired police officers only have a few restrictions on where they can carry firearms, including "when the officer consumes alcohol at a licensed liquor establishment operated by the state or a political subdivision of the state, unless authorized to do so in the performance of the peace officer's duties." Lawmakers are expanding this law to prevent police from carrying a firearm while they're consuming alcohol at any licensed liquor establishment.