Arizona bill for guns in public places fails again

The Arizona Senate narrowly rejected a bill that would allow guns in public buildings for those with legal concealed-weapons permits, bringing an end to a measure that has drawn a governor's veto three times in recent years and raising questions about future efforts.

The 14-15 vote on House Bill 2320 on Monday may spare Gov. Doug Ducey from having to weigh in on an issue that has seemed a litmus test for support of gun rights in Arizona.

"It would take an epic miracle for them to come back," Senate President Andy Biggs, R-Gilbert, said, referring to the gun bill as well as to an anti-Common Core bill that was rejected by the Senate. Three Republicans sided with Democrats to defeat the gun bill and four opposed Common Core. The measures were among the hottest topics this legislative session.

Supporters of the guns bill may have seen former Gov. Jan Brewer as a term-limited obstacle to passage, but the bill's apparent demise Monday added to the sense that Ducey's relative silence on gun rights means he doesn't support such a bill either.

Daniel Scarpinato, Ducey's spokesman, said the governor's administration was not involved in scuttling the bill.

Charles Heller, a spokesman with the Arizona Citizens Defense League, a prime supporter of gun rights and HB 2320, vowed that the effort to pass such bills will continue.

"It will be back. It's never going away. This doesn't change anything," he said. "We're trying to prevent massacres. That is what this is for."

Lawmakers ruled out a return appearance this session but said the issue remains of high interest and could be back in future years.

Monday's defeat "doesn't stop anybody," said Sen. Don Shooter, R-Yuma, who voted to enact the legislation.

While Arizona's annual flirtation with the issue has occasionally gained national attention, the latest measure scarcely drew a debate. Opponents of the bill, who were largely Democrats, offered no arguments before the vote.

Sen. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, was one of two who spoke in support of the bill, saying that it allowed only law-abiding citizens to be armed because criminals ignore gun prohibitions.

"I see no reason to disarm honest people," he said.

Critics of the measure have noted the expense of providing metal detectors and extra personnel as the only alternative to allowing concealed weapons under the bills.

A fiscal analysis of the measure estimated that it would cost the state $10 million in the first year and about $9 million annually afterward. For localities, however, the cost would be far higher. Maricopa County estimated a one-time $9 million in expenses and $47 million in ongoing costs from the bill for its 378 public buildings.

At least HB 2320, chiefly sponsored by Rep. Brenda Barton, R-Payson, got to a final vote. A measure that would have abolished the state's prohibition on silencers and sawed-off shotguns quietly vanished in the Senate without a vote to send it to the House.

"I was kind of surprised, but I knew it would be close," said Kim MacEachern, a lobbyist for the Arizona Prosecuting Attorneys' Advisory Council, which opposed HB 2320. She hesitated to say the bill was dead for the year or the future, noting that it failed by one vote and has been offered in some form each of the past five years.

Even though it has become a perennial feature of the Legislature, the issue has not lost public interest. More than 100 people registered to weigh in on the bill at the Legislature with two-thirds opposed to it.

During his campaign last year, Ducey cast himself as a supporter of the Second Amendment but has not elaborated on how, if at all, he differs from Brewer.

HB 2320 passed the House 33-25 entirely with Republican support. In the Senate, however, three of 17 Republicans voted against it: Adam Driggs of Phoenix, Steve Pierce of Prescott and Bob Worsley of Mesa.

Republic reporter Yvonne Wingett Sanchez contributed to this article.

How legislators voted

Yes:

Sylvia Allen, R-Snowflake; Nancy Barto, R-Phoenix; Andy Biggs, R-Gilbert; Judy Burges, R-Sun City West; Jeff Dial, R-Chandler; David Farnsworth, R-Mesa; Gail Griffin, R-Hereford; John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills; Debbie Lesko, R-Peoria; Don Shooter, R-Yuma; Steve Smith, R-Maricopa; Kelli Ward, R-Lake Havasu City; Steve Yarbrough, R-Chandler; Kimberly Yee, R-Phoenix





No:

Ed Ableser, D-Tempe; Carlyle Begay, D-Ganado; David Bradley, D-Tucson; Olivia Cajero Bedford, D-Tucson; Lupe Contreras, D-Avondale; Andrea Dalessandro, D-Green Valley; Adam Driggs, R-Phoenix; Steve Farley, D-Tucson; Katie Hobbs, D-Phoenix; Robert Meza, D-Phoenix; Catherine Miranda, D-Phoenix; Lynne Pancrazi, D-Yuma; Steve Pierce, R-Prescott; Martin Quezada, D-Phoenix; Bob Worsley, R-Mesa

Not voting:

Barbara McGuire, D-Kearny

Source: Republic research

Gun bill fizzles again

Arizona's Senate voted against a bill to allow concealed weapons in public buildings, derailing a measure similar to ones that were vetoed three times in four years under former Gov. Jan Brewer. A history of the bills:

2015: House Bill 2320 would have allowed permit holders to carry concealed weapons in public buildings and events that didn't have special security. It passes the House of Representatives 33-25 and fails in the Senate 14-15.

2014: Brewer vetoes HB 2339 (which was similar to the 2015 bill), saying it was an unfunded mandate on local governments that diverted scarce resources.

2012: Brewer vetoes HB 2729 while calling for "a more thorough and collaborative discussion of the proper place for guns in the public arena."

2011: Senate Bills 1201 and 1467 would have allowed concealed weapons in public buildings and on college campuses, but Brewer vetoes both measures. She calls them "poorly written" and riddled with loopholes.