AZ SB 1214 Update CCW on Campus

There were not enough votes to pass SB 1214 in the Senate without making an amendment to the bill that essentially adds a requirement to pass a couple of additional shooting skills tests before you can receive a special "School Safety Endorsement" on your CCW permit that would allow 21 & older adults with the endorsement to go into College & University Buildings while carrying their concealed weapon. Without the special endorsement CCW permit holders would still be allowed to go onto College & University Grounds, but not into the buildings.

The two shooting skills tests are the same tests created by the Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Board that all Arizona Police Officers have to pass to renew their Arizona Peace Officer Certification, but the same instructors that teach the CCW class will have the option to give the optional shooting skills tests. The primary text of the amendment that describes the two optional shooting skills tests is on page 7 of the amendment:

1. A FIFTY SHOT DAYTIME QUALIFICATION COURSE THAT MEASURES FIREARMS COMPETENCE AT LEAST AS ACCURATELY AS THE COURSE OF FIRE THAT IS REQUIRED FOR CERTIFICATION RETENTION BY THE ARIZONA PEACE OFFICER STANDARDS AND TRAINING BOARD AND THAT IS IN EFFECT ON JANUARY 1, 2008.
2. A FIREARMS TARGET IDENTIFICATION AND JUDGMENT COURSE THAT MEASURES TARGET IDENTIFICATION AND JUDGMENT AT LEAST AS ACCURATELY AS THE COURSES THAT ARE REQUIRED FOR CERTIFICATION RETENTION BY THE ARIZONA PEACE OFFICER STANDARDS AND TRAINING BOARD AND THAT ARE IN EFFECT ON JANUARY 1, 2008.

In hopes of gaining enough votes to pass SB 1214 with the proposed amendment earlier this week, the plan had been to schedule the bill for Senate COW (Committee of the Whole) Floor Debate yesterday, but it was too late to schedule it for Thursday so the plan is now to schedule it for Debate & the 3rd read Vote on Monday April 7th in order to pass the Bill in the Senate & send it over to the Arizona House of Representatives by the Thursday April 10th Deadline. If it does not make it to the House by that deadline it will become a dead bill.

This of course is not the optimal bill it had been before the required amendment but it is better than what we have now because it does allow all 21 & older CCW permit holders to go onto College grounds with their concealed weapon which will allow them to at least travel to & from school with their weapon & lock it in a safe in their car on a School parking lot before entering a building, which currently they are not allowed to do. It also gives CCW permit holders the option to pursue the optional School Safety Endorsement so that they can also carry in the buildings, an option that currently does not even exist.

If you are an Arizona resident be sure to call your Representative & let them know that you support SB 1214.

Update 1: I just received an E-mail alert from AZCDL (Arizona Citizens Defense League) that it is actually Monday that the bill will need to be heard on the floor rather than Tuesday. They also listed out the key Senators that need to hear from us with our request for their support on SB 1214. Below is the update:

We were expecting SB 1214, an AzCDL requested bill that would allow adults with Concealed Weapons (CCW) permits to carry concealed firearms on public college and university property, to be debated in the Senate Committee of the Whole (COW) on Thursday, April 3, 2008. However, the Senate Republican leadership kept the bill off the calendar because the votes weren't there to ensure passage, even with the amendment that added storage requirements and an additional skills test for campus carry permit holders.

Our last opportunity to get SB 1214 heard in the Senate COW will be Monday, April 7, 2008. If it doesn't get heard then, it is dead for this session. AzCDL's full-time, volunteer lobbyists, Dave Kopp (President) and John Wentling (Vice-President), are haunting the Senate hallways, meeting with every Senator they can find, and counting votes. They found some Democrat Senators who may be willing to vote for SB 1214, along with a couple of their colleagues that could use a little prodding. But, sadly, the key hold-outs are a handful of Republicans. It's time to let them know that we're not going to let them hide when it comes to the safety of students.

The following Senators especially need to hear from you:

Senator Carolyn Allen
callen@azleg.gov
Room 303
602-926-4480 (phone)
602-417-3155 (Fax)
Senator Allen has indicated her opposition to SB 1214 from the beginning.

Senator Jake Flake
jflake@azleg.gov
Room 307
602-626-5219 (phone)
602-417-3224 (Fax)
We're learning that Senator Flake doesn't want to support SB 1214.

Senator John Huppenthal
jhuppenthal@azleg.gov
Room 212
602-926-5261 (phone)
602-417-3157 (Fax)
Senator Huppenthal has indicated that he will not support SB 1214.

Senator Tom O'Halleran
tohalleran@azleg.gov
Room 303A
602-926-5584 (phone)
602-417-3101 (Fax)
The amendment was crafted to appease Senator O'Halleran. He now has his amendment, but should still be reminded to vote for SB 1214.

Senator Rebecca Rios
rrios@azleg.gov
Room 310
602-926-5685 (phone)
602-417-3167 (Fax)
A typically pro-gun Democrat, who, unlike many of her colleagues, might actually be persuaded to vote for SB 1214.

Senator Victor Soltero
vsoltero@azleg.gov
Room 312
602-926-5342 (phone)
602-417-3169 (Fax)
Another Democrat who could be nudged with the right approach.

Senator Jay Tibshraeny
jtibshraeny@azleg.gov
Room 306
602-926-4481 (phone)
602-417-3252 (Fax)
We're hearing that Senator Tibshraeny won't support SB 1214.

We strongly encourage you to contact these Senators and let them know you expect them to vote for SB 1214 in the Senate COW and during Third Read. If they represent your district, be sure to remind them how their abandonment of SB 1214 will affect your vote when they are up for reelection.

Update 2: SB 1214 is officially dead for this year as it did not Pass in the Senate in time to move it to the House before todays 48 hr deadline (all Senate bills were required to be scheduled in a House hearing by this Thursday at the latest, and there is a 48 hr deadline to revise the hearing schedules). Even with the amendment there were not enough votes to pass the bill in the Senate so it was never moved to the floor for COW or 3rd read for a vote. I have requested confirmation of the names of the Senators who refused to vote in favor of this important move toward freedom, and once I have them I'll post them here. I would not be surprised to see many of the same names listed in Update 1 above as being among them.