Star ignores Sen. Gallardo’s “Gun Show Loophole” bill, news conference

by David Safier

I say this with a certain amount of pride, but more concern and disappointment. Once again, if you want to learn more of the story about what's going on in the legislature, you need to read BfA.

Craig McDermott who posts on Random Musings in Phoenix and cross-posts here, attended Sen. Steve Gallardo's press conference yesterday introducing SB 1586, a bill designed to get rid of the "gun show loophole." It's a terrific, heartbreaking post, better and far more complete than the coverage in the Republic.

The Star didn't cover the news conference [Note: See MEA CULPA CORRECTION/UPDATE below], possibly because Howard Fischer wasn't there (or possibly because the Star doesn't think the bill is important, since it wasn't dropped by, say, Frank Antenori). BfA is the only news outlet in Tucson which actually has a live body covering the goings-on at the legislature.

Here's an addition to Craig's post, a Fox/Phoenix video which includes testimony from some victims of gun violence, including one woman who said:

"I am a lifelong conservative Republican. This is not a liberal versus conservative issue. This is a life or death issue, and it's time we have a serious conversation in this state."

A MEA CULPA CORRECTION/UPDATE: In this post, I completely ignored a spot-on editorial in today's Star, Gun-show probe is beside the point. The editorial takes a strong stand for closing the gun show loophole, and it takes apart the Republican arguments against closing the loophole, which the writer(s) correctly refer to as "feints," not genuine arguments. And it refers to Gallardo's bill:

State Sen. Steve Gallardo, a Phoenix Democrat, introduced a bill on Monday that would require background checks on all transactions at gun shows. We hope the measure gets a serious hearing in Phoenix, though its prospects aren't promising.

Given the composition of Arizona's Legislature – Republican dominated, generally conservative and anti-government – we doubt that a state law closing the gun show loophole can be passed.

As often happens at the Star, the staff in charge of editorials does an excellent job spotlighting and discussing serious issues the news staff pays less attention to. My apologies for ignoring the editorial in my original post.