Arizona Set to Lead the Way as “No Permit Concealed Carry” Bill Passes Senate Judiciary Committe

I have never understood why it is against the law to carry a concealed weapon without a permit.   I mean, who the heck read the Second Amendment, came across the second half of it where it says, “the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed,” and then decided that it was not an infringement to ban all citizens of the right to keep and bear arms if law enforcement couldn’t openly see the weapons?  Perhaps they misunderstood what a  “well regulated militia” meant, and thought they were suppose to regulate everyone to death…

Now that the anti-gun movement has been shown to be the farce that it is, it’s an uphill battle to undo all the damage done by a bunch of brain-dead Libtards:

No-permit hidden guns advance in state Senate
Police say bill would make jobs more dangerous
By Howard Fischer
Capitol Media Services – AZ Star
Tucson, Arizona

PHOENIX — Siding with gun owners over cops, the Senate Judiciary Committee agreed Friday to let people carry concealed weapons without getting a state permit.

The 4-3 vote came despite comments from several police officers who said letting anyone at least 18 have a hidden gun will make their jobs more dangerous. Friday’s vote sends the measure to the full Senate.
Phoenix police Lt. Jennifer LaRoque related to lawmakers how, if she had “reasonable suspicion” to stop a vehicle and saw “known gang members” inside, she would tell them to get out and, if she had legal reason, would pat them down to look for weapons.

“Right away, if I find a weapon, I can arrest them” on a charge of misconduct involving weapons, “and they go to jail,” LaRoque said. But if this law is approved, the lieutenant said that if she finds no outstanding warrants or probable cause to make an arrest, “after I’m done with the stop I go back and I have to now deliver the weapon back to this person.”

But Sen. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, chided police for coming to the Capitol to say that the safest thing is to allow only those with background checks, training and proficiency testing to have a gun that isn’t visible.

He said police opposed the 1994 law that allowed concealed weapons in the first place, insisting it would result in danger to police officers and the community — the same fears they are raising now.

“The exact opposite has proven to be true,” he said. And Pearce said he has no reason to believe their fears that letting anyone have a concealed weapon will cause problems.

Pearce had the same criticism for Attorney General Terry Goddard, who also testified against the legislation. In 1994 Goddard, as a candidate for governor, said he would have vetoed the bill that permitted concealed weapons.

SB 1270 is being pushed by Sen. Sylvia Allen, R-Snowflake, who said 35 years of restrictions on gun ownership has not made people safer.

“And yet statistics make it very clear that in pro-gun communities and pro-gun states like Alaska and Vermont, that they are safer in the violent crime areas,” Allen said. Both states allow anyone to carry a concealed weapon.

But Sen. Ken Cheuvront, D-Phoenix, said Alaska has the second-highest rate of firearms violence in the country.

Conversely, he said Massachusetts, with about the same population as Arizona but with much stricter gun laws, had only a third the number of homicides as here.

Allen said all the laws do are impose restrictions on those who obey them.

“If a person is going to commit a violent crime against anyone, whether it’s coming into this building to shoot one of us, a cop on the street, the gun isn’t the problem,” she said. “It’s the people.”

Pearce agreed.

“We have laws against bad guys,” he said. “Let’s give the good guys the right to do what I think our founders decided a long time ago when they recognized our God-given rights to bear arms.”

Some of the debate went beyond the question of whether anyone should be able to carry a concealed weapon.
Allen’s legislation would leave in place the existing laws allowing those desiring a concealed-weapon permit to get one, and it would allow them to take their guns into places where weapons are not now allowed.

Cheuvront said that includes “public events” such as street fairs and block parties where city permits are required, and where alcohol often is served.

“We are going down a very dangerous route,” he said.

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