Arizona Department of Game and Fish will soon be hosting open house meetings on the issue of Arizona Roadless Areas. These lands are crucial to protecting our forest watersheds, guarding against dangerous wild fire, rrecreational opportunities like hunting, fishing, hiking, and camping, and wildlife and their habitat.
To find a hearing near you and to RSVP, please click on the link below or paste it into your browser. As far as I can see there is an open house in Kingman on July 18th and then one in Fredonia on August 9th.
http://pirg.org/alerts/route.aspid=1670&id4=ES
Thursday, June 29, 2006
AZ Gun Owners Make Significant Gains
Arizona Gun Owners Make Significant Gains in
2006 Legislative Session!
The Arizona State Legislature has wrapped-up its 2006 legislative session and gun owners and sportsmen should be happy with the outcome. The following is a synopsis of Second Amendment advancements in The Grand Canyon State:
HB 2074
Eliminated the two-hour course required for the renewal of concealed weapons permits. This makes Arizona one of the vast majority of states that does not require a renewal course. Specifies that all of the concealed weapons permits from the 47 other issuing states are to be recognized in Arizona. This makes the permit law in Arizona consistent with the law requiring the recognition of driver licenses from all other states in the country.
HB 2076
Required government entities to comply with a law passed in 2000 that mandates that they store firearms for citizens who are legally carrying firearms when possession is prohibited in government facilities. The storage is to be readily accessible to citizens within the facility where firearms possession is prohibited. This ensures that citizens are able to protect themselves to and from their vehicles and that they are not required to store their firearms in vehicles where they might be stolen.
SB 1145
Returned the self-defense justification law to its status prior to 1997 in Arizona. After a change to statute requested by the prosecutors in 1997 until SB 1145 was enacted this year, citizens forced to act in self-defense were presumed guilty of committing a violent crime until they proved their own innocence by a preponderance of the evidence. This runs contrary to the American system of justice -- a citizen is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. This NRA-backed bill requires the state to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that citizens did not act with justification. SB 1145 also enacted the Castle Doctrine, a law enhancing the citizens' right to defend themselves from violent attacks.
Game and Fish Commission Nominee
After strong support from the NRA in the Senate Natural Resources Committee, Jennifer Martin has been appointed by the Governor to fill a seat on the Arizona Game and Fish Commission. Ms. Martin replaces Commissioner Hays Gilstrap, the Commissioner who led the NRA-opposed effort to consider the sale of the world-renowned Ben Avery Shooting Facility north of Phoenix. Commissioner Martin has the best interests of sportsmen in mind and will prove to be an enormous asset on the Commission.
A special thank you to all NRA members for your calls and emails
in support of these bills during the legislative session!
2006 Legislative Session!
The Arizona State Legislature has wrapped-up its 2006 legislative session and gun owners and sportsmen should be happy with the outcome. The following is a synopsis of Second Amendment advancements in The Grand Canyon State:
HB 2074
Eliminated the two-hour course required for the renewal of concealed weapons permits. This makes Arizona one of the vast majority of states that does not require a renewal course. Specifies that all of the concealed weapons permits from the 47 other issuing states are to be recognized in Arizona. This makes the permit law in Arizona consistent with the law requiring the recognition of driver licenses from all other states in the country.
HB 2076
Required government entities to comply with a law passed in 2000 that mandates that they store firearms for citizens who are legally carrying firearms when possession is prohibited in government facilities. The storage is to be readily accessible to citizens within the facility where firearms possession is prohibited. This ensures that citizens are able to protect themselves to and from their vehicles and that they are not required to store their firearms in vehicles where they might be stolen.
SB 1145
Returned the self-defense justification law to its status prior to 1997 in Arizona. After a change to statute requested by the prosecutors in 1997 until SB 1145 was enacted this year, citizens forced to act in self-defense were presumed guilty of committing a violent crime until they proved their own innocence by a preponderance of the evidence. This runs contrary to the American system of justice -- a citizen is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. This NRA-backed bill requires the state to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that citizens did not act with justification. SB 1145 also enacted the Castle Doctrine, a law enhancing the citizens' right to defend themselves from violent attacks.
Game and Fish Commission Nominee
After strong support from the NRA in the Senate Natural Resources Committee, Jennifer Martin has been appointed by the Governor to fill a seat on the Arizona Game and Fish Commission. Ms. Martin replaces Commissioner Hays Gilstrap, the Commissioner who led the NRA-opposed effort to consider the sale of the world-renowned Ben Avery Shooting Facility north of Phoenix. Commissioner Martin has the best interests of sportsmen in mind and will prove to be an enormous asset on the Commission.
A special thank you to all NRA members for your calls and emails
in support of these bills during the legislative session!
LEGISLATIVE SESSION – BY THE NUMBERS
LEGISLATIVE SESSION – BY THE NUMBERS
Today, Gov. Janet Napolitano issued three more vetoes of CAP supported legislation thus closing out CAP’s 2006 legislative agenda. The Center for Arizona Policy experienced our most active and most successful legislative session to date! A record total of 21 CAP supported bills passed the legislature. Of the 21, Gov. Napolitano signed nine into law, allowed two to become law without her signature and vetoed ten. The final record: 11-10. We appreciate each sponsor being willing to take the lead on key family issues. Here’s the recap, with the name of the primary sponsor in parentheses:
CAP SUPPORTED BILLS SIGNED INTO LAW BY GOV. NAPOLITANO (9):
1. Sexually Oriented Business Distance Regulation – (Knaperek) Prohibits a new sexually oriented business from being built within a quarter mile of a church, school, playground, child care facility, home, or recreational facility.
2. Umbilical Cord Blood Donations Promotion - (Stump) Requires physicians to tell women in their third trimester of pregnancy about the opportunity to donate cord blood and directs the Department of Health Services to create and distribute a pamphlet with information on cord blood donations.
3. Education and Training Vouchers for Higher Education - (Biggs) Establishes a program within the Department of Economic Security to help youths living on their own receive vouchers for postsecondary education and trade schools.
4. Postsecondary Vouchers - (Pierce) Provides scholarships to any Arizona high school student (including private and home school) who has lived in Arizona for at least 5 years to attend a private college in Arizona.
5. Displaced Pupils Choice Grants - (Murphy) Provides scholarships for 500 children who have ever been in foster care to attend a private school, allowing them to attend just one school, as opposed to constantly moving.
6. Disabled Pupils Choice Grants - (Knaperek) Provides scholarships to families of children with disabilities to allow them to choose the school that best meets their child's special needs.
7. Grants For Alternatives To Abortion - (McClure) Appropriates $500,000 to provide $20,000 grants to agencies who provide alternatives to abortion. No money may go to any organization who provides, promotes or refers women to abortions.
8. Increase Abstinence Until Marriage Education Funding - (Anderson) Increase the state matching funds to a total of $1.5 million for the federally funded abstinence until marriage education programs.
9. Marriage Education Funding - (Anderson) Appropriates $1.2 million for programs designed to help lower-income couples learn how to create and maintain a strong marriage.
CAP SUPPORTED BILLS BECAME LAW WITHOUT GOVERNOR’S SIGNATURE (2):
1. Corporate Tax Credit - (Martin) $5 million to provide tuition scholarships for low-income students in public schools to attend private schools as chosen by their parents.
2. Expansion of the $5 Million Corporate Tax Credit (Bee/Bennett/Huppenthal) $10 million with a 20% increase annually.
CAP SUPPORTED BILLS VETOED BY GOV NAPOLITANO (10):
1. Fetal Pain - (Gorman) Requires a physician to inform a woman prior to receiving an abortion that the unborn baby may feel pain and requires that the woman sign a form acknowledging she received the information.
2. Notarized Parental Consent For Minor’s Abortion - (Nichols) Changes current Arizona law which requires that parents give written permission prior to their minor daughter getting an abortion to require that the signature be notarized.
3. Guidelines For Court Orders For Minor’s Abortion - (J. Allen) Provides guidelines as to how judges handle minors’ petitions requesting a court's permission to get an abortion.
4. No Insurance Taxpayer Subsidies For Government Employees’ Abortions - (Johnson) States that the "no taxpayer funding for abortion" law also applies to any city or political subdivision including abortions as a covered benefit in employee insurance plans.
5. Ban On The Sale Of Human Eggs For Cloning/Research. (Stump)
6. Payroll Deduction For School And Charitable Organization Tax Credits - (Martin) Allows an employee who wants to participate in any of Arizona's tax credit programs to have their donations deducted from their payroll.
7. Corporate Tax Credit For Tuition Scholarships - (Speaker Weiers) Initial bill passed by the legislature was vetoed by Gov. Napolitano who later allowed two similar bills to go into law without her signature.
8. Informed Consent for Human Egg Donations - (Stump) Requires that a woman be informed of the risks involved in egg donation prior to agreeing to donate her eggs.
9. Corporate Tax Credit For Tuition Scholarships Amendment - (Martin/Yarbrough) Modifies implementation of the tuition scholarships and how the Department of Revenue handles the funds.
10. First Amendment Rights For University Student Organizations - (L. Gray) States that a public university may not discriminate against a campus organization on the basis of their religious or political views.
Just as importantly, at least eight bills opposed by CAP did not become law. Most did not even get a legislative hearing. These bills would have expanded gambling at the racetracks, forced pharmacists to fill prescriptions regardless of any conscience or religious considerations, legalized physician-assisted suicide, and created a special “protected class” status for individuals on the basis of their “sexual orientation.”
Today, Gov. Janet Napolitano issued three more vetoes of CAP supported legislation thus closing out CAP’s 2006 legislative agenda. The Center for Arizona Policy experienced our most active and most successful legislative session to date! A record total of 21 CAP supported bills passed the legislature. Of the 21, Gov. Napolitano signed nine into law, allowed two to become law without her signature and vetoed ten. The final record: 11-10. We appreciate each sponsor being willing to take the lead on key family issues. Here’s the recap, with the name of the primary sponsor in parentheses:
CAP SUPPORTED BILLS SIGNED INTO LAW BY GOV. NAPOLITANO (9):
1. Sexually Oriented Business Distance Regulation – (Knaperek) Prohibits a new sexually oriented business from being built within a quarter mile of a church, school, playground, child care facility, home, or recreational facility.
2. Umbilical Cord Blood Donations Promotion - (Stump) Requires physicians to tell women in their third trimester of pregnancy about the opportunity to donate cord blood and directs the Department of Health Services to create and distribute a pamphlet with information on cord blood donations.
3. Education and Training Vouchers for Higher Education - (Biggs) Establishes a program within the Department of Economic Security to help youths living on their own receive vouchers for postsecondary education and trade schools.
4. Postsecondary Vouchers - (Pierce) Provides scholarships to any Arizona high school student (including private and home school) who has lived in Arizona for at least 5 years to attend a private college in Arizona.
5. Displaced Pupils Choice Grants - (Murphy) Provides scholarships for 500 children who have ever been in foster care to attend a private school, allowing them to attend just one school, as opposed to constantly moving.
6. Disabled Pupils Choice Grants - (Knaperek) Provides scholarships to families of children with disabilities to allow them to choose the school that best meets their child's special needs.
7. Grants For Alternatives To Abortion - (McClure) Appropriates $500,000 to provide $20,000 grants to agencies who provide alternatives to abortion. No money may go to any organization who provides, promotes or refers women to abortions.
8. Increase Abstinence Until Marriage Education Funding - (Anderson) Increase the state matching funds to a total of $1.5 million for the federally funded abstinence until marriage education programs.
9. Marriage Education Funding - (Anderson) Appropriates $1.2 million for programs designed to help lower-income couples learn how to create and maintain a strong marriage.
CAP SUPPORTED BILLS BECAME LAW WITHOUT GOVERNOR’S SIGNATURE (2):
1. Corporate Tax Credit - (Martin) $5 million to provide tuition scholarships for low-income students in public schools to attend private schools as chosen by their parents.
2. Expansion of the $5 Million Corporate Tax Credit (Bee/Bennett/Huppenthal) $10 million with a 20% increase annually.
CAP SUPPORTED BILLS VETOED BY GOV NAPOLITANO (10):
1. Fetal Pain - (Gorman) Requires a physician to inform a woman prior to receiving an abortion that the unborn baby may feel pain and requires that the woman sign a form acknowledging she received the information.
2. Notarized Parental Consent For Minor’s Abortion - (Nichols) Changes current Arizona law which requires that parents give written permission prior to their minor daughter getting an abortion to require that the signature be notarized.
3. Guidelines For Court Orders For Minor’s Abortion - (J. Allen) Provides guidelines as to how judges handle minors’ petitions requesting a court's permission to get an abortion.
4. No Insurance Taxpayer Subsidies For Government Employees’ Abortions - (Johnson) States that the "no taxpayer funding for abortion" law also applies to any city or political subdivision including abortions as a covered benefit in employee insurance plans.
5. Ban On The Sale Of Human Eggs For Cloning/Research. (Stump)
6. Payroll Deduction For School And Charitable Organization Tax Credits - (Martin) Allows an employee who wants to participate in any of Arizona's tax credit programs to have their donations deducted from their payroll.
7. Corporate Tax Credit For Tuition Scholarships - (Speaker Weiers) Initial bill passed by the legislature was vetoed by Gov. Napolitano who later allowed two similar bills to go into law without her signature.
8. Informed Consent for Human Egg Donations - (Stump) Requires that a woman be informed of the risks involved in egg donation prior to agreeing to donate her eggs.
9. Corporate Tax Credit For Tuition Scholarships Amendment - (Martin/Yarbrough) Modifies implementation of the tuition scholarships and how the Department of Revenue handles the funds.
10. First Amendment Rights For University Student Organizations - (L. Gray) States that a public university may not discriminate against a campus organization on the basis of their religious or political views.
Just as importantly, at least eight bills opposed by CAP did not become law. Most did not even get a legislative hearing. These bills would have expanded gambling at the racetracks, forced pharmacists to fill prescriptions regardless of any conscience or religious considerations, legalized physician-assisted suicide, and created a special “protected class” status for individuals on the basis of their “sexual orientation.”
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