Letter And Materials Sent To Arizona Legislators

Gun Owners of America E-Mail/FAX Alert
8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102, Springfield, VA 22151
Phone: 703-321-8585 / FAX: 703-321-8408

http://www.gunowners.org

December 13, 1999

To whom it may concern:

Gun Owners of America (GOA) has received reports from legislative offices
that there is a tremendous amount of contact from grassroots gun owners
over proposed changes to Arizona Revised Statute 13-3107.

GOA has and will continue to aid the grassroots opposition to these
anti-gun changes.

For the record, GOA continues to oppose the proposed anti-gun restrictions
being pushed by Senator Marc Spitzer. Our opposition includes language that
has supposedly been changed to include only “guns that have been discharged
vertically.”

This still represents an anti-gun policy effort.

There are already felony statutes that can be used to punish those who harm
or endanger persons or property through the illegal use of a firearm, not
the least of which is manslaughter. (Attached is a citation of statutes
which are currently available to deal with any real problems.)

Furthermore, nothing in this proposed law will likely make it easier to
prevent some of the more notorious incidents which its proponents are using
to stampede legislators into taking away more rights and freedom from
Arizona citizens.

So why is this new law being pushed by a term-limited politician?

It is rumored prosecutors are saying they have difficulty obtaining
convictions under the other laws, and need a new “tool” to use in gun
cases.

What it really means is that incidents which were once properly treated as
minor crimes with appropriate penalties now have the anti-gun prosecutor’s
big prize attached: the potential of taking away a gun owner’s rights to
bear arms and to vote– for life.

While the base term of imprisonment for a class 6 felony is one year as
opposed to the “more than a year” term– which under federal law
immediately takes away one’s Second Amendment rights– Arizona law allows
courts to consider a laundry list of aggravating factors, which can
increase the term of imprisonment to two years. This laundry list includes:
“Any other factors which the court may deem appropriate to the ends of
justice.” There are numerous anti-gun prosecutors and judges who would
consider taking away your guns to be in the interest of “justice.”

An example of how this smokescreen of a law could turn into a nightmare was
provided by AZ activist Ken Rineer. Someone who shot a coyote that was
attacking the family pet in their own yard would now face felony charges.
Whereas before a gun owner might have decided that the normal $750 maximum
fine for a class 2 discharge misdemeanor was worth it to save his
daughter’s beloved kitten, the threat to his rights is far greater if this
bill passes. Never mind if he was on his own property, the coyote was
against the backstop of a sizable tool shed, and he knows that taking out a
coyote from six feet with his favorite gun is a shot he is more than
capable of making.

Perhaps the greatest danger, however, lies in the area of lawful
self-defense. GOA is currently trying to pass the Citizen’s Self-Defense
Act on the federal level precisely because of the vast number of
law-abiding citizens who have been railroaded by overzealous prosecutors
for doing nothing more than defending their life. Citizens who use guns in
self-defense are in many jurisdictions routinely charged with misuse of a
firearm or negligent discharge. This dangerous bill would give those same
anti-gun prosecutors a shot at the felony conviction prize– and since
self-defense often means the bad guy gets hurt or killed, “aggravating
factors” can easily be unjustly added. Imagine– save your spouse’s life
and get disarmed for life!

Some, including Governor Hull, are claiming the law is needed to stop
reckless discharge of a gun in a celebratory manner– like say New Year’s
Eve. Hence, the law is being brought as an “emergency measure” and would
take effect immediately. Of course, if some thug decides to loot your home
or business to ring in the new millenium, it could be YOU that winds up
with a felony record.

The legislature should be trying to help honest citizesn by protecting
their right to keep and bear arms and the right of free association

I’ll quote Scott Wood with BRASSROOTS, Inc., one of GOA’s allied groups in
Arizona, about the real problem with the existing statute.

“The problem that I see with the language in the bill is the language that
states:

‘PROPERLY SUPERVISED RANGE’ means a range operated by a club affiliated
with the National Rifle Association of America, the Amateur Trapshooting
Association, the National Skeet Association, or any other nationally
recognized shooting organization, any agency of the federal government,
state of Arizona, county or city within which the range is located, or any
public or private school, and, in the case of air or carbon dioxide gas
operated guns, or underground ranges on private or public property, such
ranges may be operated with adult supervision.

“My question is this, why is the above language needed if we are adding
‘criminal negligence’ to the bill? Is it then discharge of a firearm on a
range with ‘criminal negligence?’ Also, what about private ranges that are
not affiliated with any national organization? It has never been an issue
here in Tucson, but in the very near future (within the next 60 days) we
will be getting our first real private shooting range. The new range will
be just outside of city limits, but there is already talk to having the
City of Tucson annex the land and put it into the city limits. Will they
make it a class 2 misdemeanor for shooting on a state of the art shooting
range that happens to be a ‘for profit’ range? We all know that they can
and will define just about anything as criminal negligence.”

Grassroots gun owners would like to see the legislature fix this probelm
rather than chase after phony fixes to satisfy anti-gun prosecutors and
term-limited politicians.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call me at
703-321-8585.

Sincerely,

Dennis Fusaro
Director of State Legislation

CC: GOA Members and Supporters in Arizona

Current Arizona Law Already Provides the Tools Prosecutor Need!
(Information provided by Attorney David Hardy)

13-1201. Endangerment; classification

A. A person commits endangerment by recklessly endangering another person
with a substantial risk of imminent death or physical injury.

B. Endangerment involving a substantial risk of imminent death is a class 6
felony. In all other cases, it is a class 1 misdemeanor.

13-604. Dangerous and repetitive offenders; definitions

F. Except as provided in section 13-604.01, a person who is at least
eighteen years of age or who has been tried as an adult and who stands
convicted of a class 4, 5 or 6 felony involving the intentional or knowing
infliction of serious physical injury or the discharge, use or threatening
exhibition of a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument without having
previously been convicted of any felony shall be sentenced to imprisonment
as prescribed in this ubsection and shall not be eligible for suspension
of sentence, probation, pardon or release from confinement on any basis
except as specifically authorized by section 31-233, subsection A or B
until the sentence imposed by the court has been served, the person is
eligible for release pursuant to section 41-1604.07 or the sentence is
commuted. The presumptive term may be mitigated or aggravated within the
range prescribed under this subsection pursuant to the terms of section
13-702, subsections B, C and D. The terms are as follows:

Felony Min. Sentence Presumptive Sentence Max. Sentence
Class 4 4 years 6 years 8 years
Class 5 2 years 3 years 4 years
Class 6 1.5 years 2.25 years 3 years

Note: the last section means that a charge of reckless endangerment
involving a firearm and exposure to risk of death would already bring a
MINIMUM of 1.5 years without probation or parole, and a presumptive
sentence of 2.25 years without probation or parole.

Under the language of the amendments, the same penalties– about half those
given an armed robber, and about twice the average manslaughter penalty–
would apply to a criminally negligent discharge.

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