AZ CCW ACTION ALERT for 1/25/2007

HB 2469 is scheduled for a House Judiciary committee hearing TOMORROW (January 25, 2007) at 9:00 AM and needs YOUR immediate action.

Information on HB 2469 can be found here:
www.azleg.gov />
HB 2469 reduces the penalty for a concealed weapon permit holder failing to have their permit in their possession while carrying concealed.

Under current law (ARS 13-3112.D), a person is guilty of a class 2 misdemeanor offense if they fail to present a concealed weapons permit upon the request of a law enforcement officer. The language of the current law does not clarify that a person must be a concealed weapons permit holder or in possession of a weapon or even if a weapon must be concealed!

However, if they produce a legible permit that was valid at the time of the violation when they go to court, "they shall not be convicted." Meanwhile, they have been subjected to possible arrest and confiscation of their weapon prior to appearing in court. Furthermore, their concealed weapon permit information was available to the arresting officer, via a records search, at the time of the encounter.

The proposed language in HB 2469:

· Restricts the application of the law to concealed weapons permit holders.
· Reduces the penalty to a petty offense.
· Clarifies that a permit holder can only be charged if they are carrying a concealed weapon when they fail to present their permit at the request of a law enforcement officer.

We need you to send the following cut-and-paste message (or one of your own) to each of the House Judiciary committee members. Email addresses of the committee members are provided in both semi-colon and comma separation formats to work with your email software.

The committee members:
(semi-colon separation)
efarnsworth@azleg.gov; adriggs@azleg.gov; kadams@azleg.gov; rcrandall@azleg.gov; sgallardo@azleg.gov; akirkpatrick@azleg.gov; bkonopnicki@azleg.gov; bmiranda@azleg.gov; ksinema@azleg.gov; syarbrough@azleg.gov

(comma separation)
efarnsworth@azleg.gov; adriggs@azleg.gov; kadams@azleg.gov; rcrandall@azleg.gov; sgallardo@azleg.gov; akirkpatrick@azleg.gov; bkonopnicki@azleg.gov; bmiranda@azleg.gov; ksinema@azleg.gov; syarbrough@azleg.gov

Subject: Support HB 2469.

The Arizona Citizens Defense League (AzCDL) has informed me that HB 2469 is being considered in the House Judiciary committee on January 25, 2007 . I urge you to vote HB 2469 out of committee with a recommendation for passage by the full House.

Under the current provisions of ARS 13-3112.D, I am subject to a class 2 misdemeanor if I am unable to present a concealed weapons permit upon the request of a law enforcement officer. The language of the current law does not clarify that I must even be a concealed weapons permit holder or in possession of a weapon or even if a weapon must be concealed. Furthermore, the law says I "shall not be convicted" if I produce a valid permit to the court.

HB 2469 clarifies that ARS 13-3112.D applies only to concealed weapons permit holders who are in possession of a concealed weapon. The penalty is reduced to a petty offense while the "shall not convict" language is retained for those producing a valid permit to the court. This allows honest mistakes by law-abiding citizens to be handled quickly, allowing scarce law enforcement and court resources to be focused on more important issues.

Again, I urge to vote HB 2469 out of committee with a recommendation for passage by the full House.

Sincerely,
(Your Name)
(Street Address)
(City, State, Zip)

As legislation progresses or is introduced, we will keep you up to date via these Alerts:
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These alerts are a project of the Arizona Citizens Defense League (AzCDL), an all volunteer, non-profit, non-partisan grassroots organization. Join today!

AzCDL – Protecting Your Freedom
www.azcdl.org />

Copyright © 2007 Arizona Citizens Defense League, Inc., all rights reserved.