Volume 2022, Issue 1 – February 2022
Busy Legislative Session
The 2022 Legislative session convened on Monday, January 10th and, if typical, will run for approximately 100 days. Arizona’s Governor has a history of being unsupportive of pro-rights firearm bills and his staff has worked behind the scenes to prevent good bills from leaving the Legislature. In addition, the 2020 elections resulted in a single-vote Republican majority in both the House and Senate. Unfortunately, there are members of both parties that have a history of voting against bills that restore and protect your right to keep and bear arms. It remains a challenge for good bills to pass and we’ve had to fight off a number of bad bills.
All the bills we are following are on our Bill Tracking Page: https://azcdl.org/bill-tracking/
Good bills still in play
HB 2119 passed out of the House on February 3rd, 57-2. The bill has been sent to the Senate Judiciary Committee. The bill calls for the automatic restoration of one’s civil rights after successfully completing a prison term and any victim restitution associated with a first felony conviction.
HB 2166 passed out of the House on February 24th, 31-28, and is now being heard in Senate committees. The bill would exempt firearms and related safety equipment from transaction privilege (sales) tax.
HB 2316 passed out of the House on February 17th, 31-28, and passed the Senate committees to which it was assigned. It will next be considered by the full Senate. The bill would exempt CCW permit holders from prohibitions against carrying a concealed weapon in most public buildings.
HB 2414 passed out of the House on February 17th, 31-27, and passed the Senate committees to which it was assigned. It will next be considered by the full Senate. The bill would remove the requirement for firearms to be unloaded while locked in a vehicle on school grounds.
HB 2448 was amended and passed out of the House on February 24th, 31-28. It has been assigned to the Senate Education committee. The bill would require school districts and charter schools to provide age-appropriate firearms safety training to students in grades 6-12.
HB 2473 passed out of the House on February 23rd, 31-28, and has been sent to the Senate Finance Committee. The bill prohibits a “public entity” from entering into a contract for goods or services with a value of $100,000 or more unless the contract includes a written certification that the company does not, and will not for the period of the contract, discriminate against a “firearm entity.”
SB 1177 passed out of the Senate on February 1st, 29-0, and will be heard by the House Judiciary Committee. The bill requires the Department of Public Safety to send renewal reminder notices to CCW permit holders at least 60 days before their permits expire.
SB 1251 passed out of the Senate on February 10th, 27-1, and has been assigned to the House Judiciary Committee. The bill adds to the list of actions constituting “armed robbery” to include taking, or attempting to take, possession of a deadly weapon while in the commission of a robbery.
Good bills in limbo
HB 2447 has been retained on the House Committee of the Whole (COW) calendar since February 17th. It is being held because House leadership does not have the votes to move it forward. The bill would prevent colleges and universities from prohibiting CCW permit holders from carrying firearms on campuses.
SB 1123 passed the Senate Judiciary Committee on January 20th and the Senate Rules Committee on January 25th but is being held in the Senate, likely because Senate leadership does not believe they have the votes to move it forward. This is the Senate version of HB 2447, which would prevent colleges and universities from prohibiting CCW permit holders from carrying firearms on campuses.
SB 1125 passed the Senate Judiciary Committee on January 27th and the Senate Rules Committee on February 1st but is being held in the Senate. The bill codifies the right to possess and transport firearms and related equipment by anyone who is not a prohibited possessor.
Good bills that failed
HB 2472 would have prevented government entities and financial institutions from discriminating against those engaged in lawful firearms commerce.
HB 2489 FAILED in the House on February 22nd, 29-30. The sponsor used a legislative maneuver called “reconsideration” to bring it up for a second vote on February 24th but it failed again, 30-29. Representative David Cook (R-LD 8) joined all of the democrats to defeat the bill, which would have created a new “provisional” CCW permit for those 18-20 years of age.
SB 1030 would have required the courts to order compensation for those accused of homicide by the state but not convicted.
SB 1037 would have removed noise suppressing devices from the list of “prohibited weapons.”
SB 1057 would have prohibited the federal government from placing an Arizona resident on a “no fly” list without due process of law.
SB 1124 would have exempted those in the armed services from fees associated with CCW permitting by DPS.
SB 1220 would have prohibited rental agreements from forcing tenants to agree not to possess, transport or store firearms that are otherwise legal.
Bad bills stopped!
Just like clockwork, Senators and Representatives that oppose your right to keep and bear arms introduce substantially similar bills year after year to weaken your rights guaranteed under the Arizona Constitution. The following bills were aimed at weakening your rights but, with the efforts of AzCDL, all were fortunately stopped from progressing early in the session.
The list of bad bills that have bitten the dust is long, but satisfying:
HB 2193 would have repealed existing law requiring the Attorney General to investigate official actions taken by county or municipal officials that violate the state Constitution or state law.
HB 2304 would have added trigger cranks, bump-fire devices or anything else that accelerates the rate of fire of a semiautomatic rifle to the list of “prohibited weapons.”
HB 2361 would have instituted a 3-day waiting period for all firearms sales.
HB 2362 would have added a long and convoluted process to be followed by firearms dealers to prevent “straw purchases.”
HB 2363 would have required DPS to maintain a secure web portal that dealers could use to verify the validity of CCW permits presented for purchasing a firearm.
HB 2364 would have compelled physicians and nurses to lecture parents or guardians of a child on firearm safety in the home.
HB 2365 would have implemented Severe Threat Orders of Protection (STOP), denying due process of law to those accused of being a danger to themselves or to others.
HB 2366 would have required ALL firearms transfers to be conducted through a licensed dealer and include background checks.
HB 2367 would have required all firearms and ammunition in a residence to be locked in a securely locked box or safe.
HB 2404 would have expanded the definition of “prohibited possessor” to include anyone convicted of domestic violence…and greatly expanded what qualifies as “domestic violence.”
HB 2519 would have repealed most justifications for the use of physical force from state law.
HCR 2013 would have placed a measure on an election ballot allowing the public to vote on whether private firearms sales and transfers must be conducted through a licensed firearms dealer and include background checks.
SB 1388 would have removed the justification for police officers to threaten or use physical force.
SB 1426 would have repealed current laws requiring the Attorney General to investigate county and municipal actions that violate the state Constitution or state law.
SB 1538 would have created the crime of “unlawful securing of a firearm” if a minor obtains access to a “readily dischargeable firearm.”
SB 1545 would have required legislators requesting the Attorney General to investigate violations of state law by counties or municipalities to represent the county or municipalities being investigated or receive written support from a legislator that does.
SB 1546 would have required ALL private firearms transfers to be conducted through a licensed dealer who would perform background checks.
SB 1547 would make it a felony for a firearms dealer to fail to honor a 3-day waiting period for a sale.
SB 1662 was yet another STOP order bill.
State Senator Thinks He Gets to Decide Who Has Rights
Arizona Senator Lupe Contreras made a daring claim during a recent Senate Judiciary committee hearing on HB 2316. HB 2316 would remove some of the restrictions on carrying a concealed firearm in public buildings and at public events.
Referring to your right to keep and bear arms, Contreras said, “I do understand, yeah, it is a right that we have. But some people, some people just, just don’t have that right. And some people just shouldn’t have that right.”
He also told Lauren Snyder, a sexual assault survivor who testified before the committee, that if she was afraid of harm coming to her again, she should, “Stay home, behind closed doors.” Snyder told the committee that she refuses to be a victim ever again.
This is the reasoning of the anti-rights crowd—government will decide what rights you have and government will decide who is allowed to enjoy those rights. AzCDL finds this mentality unacceptable!
As stated in our nation’s founding documetns, ALL men are created equal and they are endowed by their creator with certain UNALIENABLE rights. Rights are not gifts from government, they are inherent within us as human beings. Since government is not the source of our rights, it has no authority to take them away, either.
Snyder joined AzCDL lobbyist Michael Infanzon and board member Cheryl Todd in testifying in favor of the bill before the committee.
FASTER Saves Lives!
FASTER Saves Lives, Arizona Edition, is now a reality thanks to Jim Irvine, Co-Director of FASTER Saves Lives; David Kopp, AzCDL Foundation President and Cheryl Todd, AzCDL Foundation Vice-President along with many others!
FASTER stands for Faculty, Administration, Safety Training & Emergency Response and it is now available to schools and places of worship in Arizona.
FASTER was created in early 2013 in response to the Sandy Hook school shooting. The curriculum is an intense, 30-hour, 3-day course designed by experts in the field of school safety. The course prerequisites are that each participant has a concealed carry license from their state as well as a 6-8 hour Foundations course. The concealed carry requirement is to ensure there are no questions about the legal fitness of the FASTER student. The Foundations course is to set the attendee up for success at the 3-day course which is likened to “drinking from a fire hose.”
The 3-day FASTER firearms requirement is to qualify with a 90% score on the state’s law enforcement qualification. Additionally, a 3-hour trauma medical class is taught akin to the military’s TC3 program. Finally, the student is taught tactical movement and crisis management—how to get to the threat, eliminate the threat, manage the situation and provide trauma medical care.
FASTER Saves Lives is just getting started in Arizona. Learn more at
Tom R. Hall
Are Your Rights Worth Four Hours of Your Time?
Most of AzCDL’s members joined us at a gun show table, and many renewed or upgraded the same way—walking up to the table, speaking to a member who volunteered to work the table for at least four hours, in exchange for free admission to the show. Many of them gave up time with friends and family to help grow the organization; a few even give up their entire weekend, once every month or three to act as coordinators, supervising and training new volunteers.
Unfortunately, all too many of our long-time coordinators and volunteers have fallen victim to the implacable scourge of time, had life interfere, or gone off to that great shooting range in the sky where you never run out of ammunition nor have to clean your gun. The volunteers they trained have aged and gained people and things in their lives that took them away from the joy and tedium that working a gun show table brings…and they haven’t been replaced.
Yes, people can—and do—join and renew online, but if they have a question, if they need more information, or if they just want to talk about how to keep their guns, get training, or affect the laws that influence our right to arms, nothing can replace a friendly, knowledgeable face—one with the same passion for maintaining our guns and our right to them.
If you like gun shows, if you like meeting and talking to ‘the right kind of people’, if you think that you might want to give a little something—as little as four hours—back to the organization that has done so much in less than two decades to reverse a century of bad law, contact any Board member and we’ll train and equip you to represent us at gun shows around the State. Oh, and did I mention, we’ll get you in free?
Duke Schechter
AzCDL Director
Support AzCDL With Every Amazon Purchase
Are you an Amazon customer? Did you know that you can support the AzCDL Foundation with every purchase you make, at no cost to you? The AzCDL Foundation is an eligible organization under Amazon’s Smile program.
Simply shop at smile.amazon.com, choose AzCDL Foundation as your charity, and Amazon will make a donation with every purchase.
You’ll enjoy the same products, prices, and service, and even the same account you’ve come to know at Amazon—all while protecting your rights at the same time!
Amazon will donate 0.5% of the price of each eligible purchase you make to the AzCDL Foundation.
The Foundation’s mission is to promote the responsible exercise of the right to keep and bear arms. Programs include promoting firearm safety, training, skill at arms, and to facilitate access to training opportunities. The Foundation also raises awareness of constitutional and legal aspects of firearms ownership and safety.
To date, the Amazon Smile program has donated over $12,000 to the AzCDL Foundation to keep this valuable work moving forward.
Did we mention it’s completely FREE?
Front Sight Update
As you know, AzCDL was forced to cancel our annual member trip to Front Sight this year due to some very unfortunate policy changes by the company. These changes include substantial fees for classes that were previously free to Front Sight members, daily facility usage fees, monthly payments required to maintain previously purchased memberships, and a requirement to purchase all ammunition from Front Sight. The policy changes would have made our annual trip prohibitively expensive.
We immediately began working to find alternative venues that could host the group. There are a number of first-class training facilities right here in Arizona that we are negotiating with to see if we can provide a similar experience without breaking the bank.
Since then, it seems Front Sight has had a change of heart. The details are not entirely clear but it seems as though Front Sight will offer their original memberships and the new program side-by-side, providing members a choice as to which terms will apply to them.
If you have questions or concerns about your Front Sight membership, AzCDL recommends contacting Front Sight directly.
We will continue to search for an alternate venue that will provide members with an affordable, enjoyable trip!
AzCDL Board Members Speak at Largest Arizona 2A Rally
Every February the Celebrate and Protect the Second Amendment Rally is attended by thousands of gun owners, families, dozens of vendors, and speakers from all over the country. It is the largest Gun Rights Rally in the state and this year three AzCDL Board Members were speakers.
Dave Kopp, AzCDL President, challenged the crowd to get involved and reminded them “We are a government of the people.” He discussed important bills such as SB 1125 which would codify that firearms and related equipment may be possessed and transported lawfully, even if it were to become outlawed at a later time. He emphasized the need for every citizen to use their voice and be a part of fighting for our rights. He urged the crowd to send e-mails, make phone calls and use RTS to engage with your government.
Cheryl Todd, AzCDL Foundation Vice President, was the co-MC of the event as well as one of the speakers. Cheryl is well known as the co-owner and executive producer of Gun Freedom Radio but on this day, she spoke about the meaning of our National Anthem and the powers fighting to destroy the very spirit of our nation. She asked the cheering crowd, “Are we still the land of the free? Are we still the home of the brave?” She challenged the crowd to speak up to not let the fear of cancel culture keep them silent. Todd closed with the famous quote “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
David Laird, Training Director of the AzCDL Foundation and owner of Dynamic Combative Solutions spoke about the history of the erosion of our gun rights, how our well-regulated militia is under attack and its importance to ensure a free state. Laird reminded the crowd that after the Constitution was written our Founding Fathers wrote the Bill of Rights to solidify that the power always remained with We The People. He closed with the impassioned statement, “We must never forget what the Second Amendment means for our freedom.”
The crowd enjoyed the day with family, friends both new and old, and the thirty speakers who made us grateful to live in this beautiful state.
Kim Bishop
AzCDL Foundation Treasurer