Sen. Ron Gould to bring back ‘guns on campus’ bill

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Let's begin by noting that the rank-and-file members of the National Rifle Association who practice responsible gun ownership and safety do not share the often radical views of the NRA leadership. There is some serious cognitive dissonance between what responsible gun owners believe and what the NRA leadership believes.

An opinion in the Republican Herald from December 12, 2009, Members, NRA not in accord on gun safety – Republican Herald noted that:

[A] new poll by a deeply conservative Republican pollster indicates that politicians, generally, wrongly assume that the official positions of the NRA leadership are shared uniformly by rank-and-file members.

The results are deeply significant relative to federal and state legislation regarding sensible, safety-oriented regulations that would not prevent any eligible citizen from owning a gun.

Conservative pollster Frank Luntz, whose best known recent enterprise has been advising Republicans who are against Democratic proposals for health-care reform, conducted the survey for Mayors Against Illegal Guns.

Luntz surveyed 832 gun owners, 401 of whom are NRA members.

Remarkably, federal law does not prohibit people on terrorist watch lists from purchasing guns. Luntz found an overwhelming majority of the gun owners favored such a restriction, including 82 percent of the NRA members.

Pennsylvania is among the states where laws requiring gun owners to report the loss or theft of guns have been under debate. In Pennsylvania, the measure has been defeated at the state level but passed by 21 city governments, including Pottsville's.

Luntz found, nationally, overwhelming support by gun owners for such a provision, including among 69 percent of NRA members.

Many gun owners seem to believe that gun ownership and gun safety are complementary, rather than contradictory concepts. In the poll, 86 percent of the gun owners agreed with this statement: "We can do more to stop criminals from getting guns while also protecting the rights of citizens to freely own them."

The NRA opposes many common-sense public safety measures relative to guns because it fears the "slippery slope," that passage of any gun restriction inevitably will lead to sweeping restrictions.

Common sense is a powerful weapon, however. Many gun owners, including the NRA members in the Luntz poll, disagree with the official NRA positions.

Which brings me to the latest insanity from the NRA and their Tea-Publican stooges in the Arizona legislature. The Arizona Republic reports today Arizona legislators renew push for guns on campus:

Pro-gun politicians are preparing another attempt to pass legislation that would allow students and professors to carry guns onto the campuses of Arizona's public universities and community colleges.

Lawmakers who this year were rebuffed by Gov. Jan Brewer in their efforts to legalize guns on campuses are determined to get the bill passed in the new session. They have revised the wording of their failed bill, received the powerful political backing of the National Rifle Association, held pre-session meetings with university and law-enforcement officials, and plan to introduce the bill as soon as the session begins Jan. 9.

If Brewer signs this new guns-on-campus bill into law, Arizona would become the fifth state in the nation to tie the hands of campus officials, who for now have the power to bar weapons.

Arizona lawmakers have unsuccessfully proposed similar measures for the past several years. This year, the Legislature passed a bill allowing guns on campus rights of way such as roads and adjacent sidewalks, but not inside buildings. Brewer vetoed the bill, saying it was poorly written, did not clearly define a right of way and could have also applied to K-12 campuses.

In her decision to veto the bill, she said she supported "the thoughtful expansion of where firearms should be allowed," but insisted the legislation must be "unambiguous and clear."

Brewer never comments on bills before the Legislature passes them, so it's unclear whether she would support a revised version of the legislation. She has, however, historically been a strong supporter of gun-rights legislation.

Sen. Ron Gould, R-Lake Havasu City, who proposed this year's measure, will be the primary sponsor of next year's bill. He said he took the suggestions in Brewer's veto letter and worked with the NRA to draft a clearer bill for next session. Gould, who is a strong supporter of loosening gun restrictions and has been one of the primary sponsors of gun legislation for the past several years, has said he does not believe individuals should have to surrender their Second Amendment rights just because they are on a college campus.

He said next year's bill would prohibit Arizona's public universities and community colleges from banning individuals with a concealed-carry permit from carrying a firearm in a parking lot or on campus. It would allow the schools to keep guns out of campus buildings if they post a sign and provide secure gun storage.

Secure storage would likely mean gun lockers inside at least one entrance of each building so an individual could lock up their gun and hold onto the key until they retrieve their gun, similar to a locker offered at gyms. According to a legislative staff report from earlier this year, gun lockers could cost $100 to $300 each. The universities and community colleges would likely be expected to foot the bill.

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[Gould] said he is confident this bill will become law.

"This bill is a lot more clear," Gould said. "It also limits it to concealed-carry permit holders, while the bill this last year was for any law-abiding citizen."

NRA leadership has supported allowing guns on campus for years. The bill is expected to become law despite anticipated opposition from schools in Arizona, the Arizona Board of Regents, professors and a number of students, as well as law enforcement agencies.

On a related note in the Arizona Republic today, U.S. police deaths up 13% in 2011 to 173:

The number of fatalities from departments across the country caused by firearms made 2011 one of the deadliest years in recent history for U.S. law enforcement.

Across the nation, 173 officers died in the line of duty, up 13 percent from 153 the year before, according to numbers as of Wednesday compiled by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.

The nonprofit group that tracks police deaths also reported that 68 federal, state and local officers were killed by gunfire in 2011, a 15 percent jump from last year when 59 were killed. It marks the first time in 14 years that firearms fatalities were higher than traffic-related deaths. The data shows that 64 officers died in traffic accidents, down from the 71 killed in 2010.

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The number of firearms-related fatalities, which have risen 70 percent since 2008, was particularly alarming to analysts. Of the 68 deaths, 14 took place while the officer was attempting an arrest, nine occurred during a domestic disturbance call and five were ambushes, according to the data.

And this report 5 Arizona officers died in 2011: