Brewer signs bill to carry concealed weapons : AZ IMC

Sometime this summer, virtually anyone you meet walking down the street could be carrying a concealed weapon.

Gov. Jan Brewer on Friday signed legislation to wipe out the current law which makes it a crime to carry a hidden gun without first obtaining a state-issued permit. The law will take effect 91 days after the Legislature finally adjourns, something now scheduled for the end of the month.

“I believe this legislation not only protects the Second Amendment rights of Arizona citizens, but restores those rights as well,” Brewer said in a prepared statement.

Arizona adults who have not been convicted of felonies always have been allowed to carry sidearms openly. The right to have a concealed weapon was added in 1994.

But that requires a state-issued permit. And to get that, applicants need to pass a one-day course which covers everything from when state law allows the use of deadly force to proving the ability to handle and fire the gun.

It also requires a background check.

Gubernatorial press aide Paul Senseman said Brewer believes that distinction is not justified.

“If you carry a weapon and it’s exposed, it’s totally legal,” he said. “But if your T-shirt hangs over it, you’ve got a coat over the top of it, you’re carrying it illegally.”

And Senseman said Brewer does not believe Arizonans should need a “permission slip from the government” to exercise their constitutional right to carry guns just because of that difference.

Senseman acknowledged the law wipes out the requirement for instruction on the law and in handling a weapon. He said Brewer does support people getting some training before carrying around a weapon.

But he said Brewer could not justify having one set of rules for those who carry openly — meaning no training needed at all — with a different set of rules for the same gun in a purse or under a jacket.

When the law takes effect, it will make Arizona the third state in the nation to let any adult who can legally own a gun carry it concealed without getting a permit. The other two are Alaska and Vermont.

The signing came on the anniversary of the 2007 shooting at Virginia Tech where a gunman killed 32 students before turning the weapon on himself. Sen. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, the architect of this legislation, said that’s only appropriate.

“Somebody could have saved those students if it had not been for government restrictions,” he said, calling the massacre “the result of gun laws that restrict citizens.”

The new law does not wipe out the ability to get a state-issued permit. And there are some benefits to having one.

One of the biggest is that other laws now prohibit carrying a gun into any bar or restaurant where alcohol is served. But a law approved by legislators last year and signed by Brewer creates an exception for those who have a concealed-carry permit.

The other is that most states which still require permission to have a concealed weapon honor Arizona’s permit; other Arizonans who bring a hidden gun to other states would remain subject to arrest.

But another provision of the new law actually eases the requirements to get a state-issued permit. While completing a gun-safety course approved by the Department of Public Safety would remain one option, anyone seeking a permit could also qualify through hunter education or safety courses approved by the Arizona Game and Fish Commission, evidence of current military service or honorable discharge from U.S. armed forces, or completing any National Rifle Association firearms safety or training course.

The new law applies only to those who are at least 21 years old. And concealed-carry permits are not available to those who are younger.

Anyone younger than 21 would still be prohibited from carrying a concealed weapon on property that does not belong to that person, a parent, grandparent or legal guardian. But the new law does narrow the definition so that a weapon is not considered concealed if any part of the gun or holster is visible.

John Thomas, lobbyist for the Arizona Association of Chiefs of Police, testified against the measure earlier this session, telling lawmakers the change “will take Arizona back to the Wild West... with no consideration of officer safety.”

But Pearce noted that police groups opposed the original 1994 concealed-carry law, predicting it would lead to officer shootings — shootings Pearce said did not happen.

To soften police opposition, language was inserted in the measure to require anyone stopped by a police officer to disclose whether he or she is carrying a concealed weapon and to take temporary possession of the gun while the person is being questioned.

This is actually the third measure expanding gun rights that Brewer has signed this year alone.

She penned her approval to one bill which prohibits cities from having restrictions on weapons more stringent than anything in state law. That is specifically aimed at communities which have prohibited those with concealed weapons permits from carrying them into city parks.

And Brewer signed legislation aimed at allowing Arizonans to have firearms without registering them with the federal government. That law says federal laws do not apply to weapons and ammunition manufactured wholly within Arizona.