AZ: Legislative Update

Legislative update from AZCDL:

Non-budget legislation in Arizona remains at a standstill while the Legislature continues to hammer out the 2010 budget.

Waiting for a House Third Read vote before being transmitted to the Senate is HB 2439, the AzCDL-requested CCW training reform bill.

Waiting to be placed on the House Committee of the Whole (COW) calendar are HB 2474 and HB 2177.  

HB 2474 prevents any private or public employer, property owner, etc. from banning any person from keeping a firearm in a locked vehicle in a parking area on the property, with specific, limited exceptions.  

HB 2177 allows a person with a valid concealed weapons permit to possess, transport or carry a weapon within a game refuge.  

In the Senate, non-budget bills have still not been assigned to committees while they continue working on the 2010 budget.  Stuck in this legislative limbo are several AzCDL-requested bills, including SB 1270 (Constitutional Carry) and SB 1243 (Defensive Display).

On a positive note, there was a pro-rights ruling this week from the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit covering Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon and Washington.  The case was Nordyke v. King.  You can find the ruling on AzCDL’s “Educational” page: http://www.azcdl.org/html/educational.html .  Federal cases can be found near the bottom of the page.

In Nordyke, the Ninth Circuit ruled that the 2nd Amendment is “incorporated” through the 14th Amendment.  This means that the Second Amendment is a right protected at the state and local levels for residents in the states under the jurisdiction of the Ninth Circuit.  

Here in Arizona, the impact of Nordyke will be minor since the Arizona Constitution protects your right to keep and bear arms in Article 2, Section 26: http://www.azleg.gov/FormatDocument.asp?inDoc=/const/2/26.htm

However in California, the impact could be significant.  California has no protection for the right to keep and bear arms in their constitution.  This new ruling means that Second Amendment rights are protected in California.  It might help to eventually invalidate some of their gun laws and provide footing for becoming a "shall issue" state.

The case that triggered the ruling was brought on behalf of a gun show promoter (Nordyke) that wanted to use county property to hold a gun show.  Despite the “incorporation” ruling, the rest of the ruling went against Nordyke.  The Ninth Circuit ruled that since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in D.C. v. Heller that guns can be banned from "sensitive" government buildings, the county was within its powers to ban the gun show.

Stay tuned!  When critical legislation moves, we will notify you via these Alerts.

Don’t forget to stop by AzCDL’s table and visit with our volunteers at the gun show this weekend, April 25 & 26, at the Arizona State Fairgrounds in Phoenix.  If you renew your membership at the gun show, we knock $10 off the cost of your membership.  It’s like getting into the gun show for free!

These alerts are a project of the Arizona Citizens Defense League (AzCDL), an all volunteer, non-profit, non-partisan grassroots organization.  

AzCDL – Protecting Your Freedom

http://www.azcdl.org/html/join_us_.html 

Copyright © 2009 Arizona Citizens Defense League, Inc., all rights reserved

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