Arizonans, your help urgently needed: SB1214!

[UA SCCC]

SB1214 is a bill currently in the senate that would allow CCWs to carry concealed on college campuses, helping to deter future mass-murders and keeping students/staff/faculty safe in their everyday comings/goings from campus. The bill has made it through Judiciary, Rules, and Caucus, but is missing some Republican votes it needs to pass Committee of the Whole!

I'm imploring those on THR that want to help get our rights back, to call, write an actual paper letter, or email the following senators to: voice your support for SB1214, let them know you expect them to vote for it in the Committe of the Whole (CoW) and on third read, and that if any of them are YOUR representatives, you will remember their vote when it comes time for re-election.

For letters, the senate mailing address is: 1700 W. Washington, Phoenix, AZ 85007

The following Republican senators have stated that they will not be voting for SB1214:

Senator Carolyn Allen
[email protected]
Room 303
602-926-4480 (phone)
602-417-3155 (Fax)

Senator John Huppenthal (Majority Whip)
[email protected]
Room 212
602-926-5261 (phone)
602-417-3157 (Fax)

Senator Tom O'Halleran
[email protected]
Room 303A
602-926-5584 (phone)
602-417-3101 (Fax)

Senator Jay Tibshraeny
[email protected]
Room 306
602-926-4481 (phone)
602-417-3252 (Fax)

Any help you can offer on this is crucial! Thank you!

P.S. Don't know who your senators are? Visit: http://azredistricting.org/mapping/...er4=on&Layer1=on&action=zoomin&ActiveLayer=16 and enter an address and zip code in the upper right hand corner to find out!

 

[belus]

Dear Senator Cahill,

I am generally a stoic and self-reliant individual, but tonight I read a recent news article that so unnerved me I feel compelled to share it. First, though, I think you deserve some background on who I am, and why I care about SB 1214.

I am a Ph.D student in engineering at [school], a proud gay rights supporter, registered Democrat, and recreational target shooter. Every third Saturday I join the Phoenix chapter of the Pink Pistols, an organization which promotes responsible firearm ownership among sexual minorities for the purpose of self-defense, for an hour of relaxed target shooting and coffee. It was through them that I learned of SB 1214 and the security it may provide college students like myself.

I support the policy of allowing licensed concealed carry permit holders to carry their firearms concealed while on a school's campus. For the purposes of this bill, I believe a school includes K-12 education as well as university and community college campuses, though amendments may have limited that to just higher education at this point.

I must also admit that I am not particularly thrilled about the general idea of students carrying weapons. However, this initial aversion was substantially quelled when I recognized that most students are under 21 years of age and thus do not qualify for the carry permit (in fact, only 10% of Arizona permit holders are under 30^^). Furthermore, obtaining such a permit requires safety training, fingerprinting, and extensive background checks that few individuals interested in aggression would want to undergo. As a student, I would feel much more comfortable if my professors and university faculty were allowed to exercise their right to carry concealed. In Utah concealed carry on college campuses is allowed, and I believe that a similar treatment in Arizona could provide a significant deterrent to school shootings.

Even if I am wrong on that last point, and the incomprehensible motives that fuel these tragedies remained unaffected, it would not be possible for a rampage, like that which persisted at Virginia Tech and resulted in the deaths of 32 people, to be repeated in the presence of a responsible citizen with their own firearm.

I realize that we have a campus and city police force. They are presumably well-trained, in addition to being, in my personal experience, extremely polite and courteous to innocent inquiries. This is a clear and obvious objection to the points which I have raised. However, the tragic events at Virginia Tech and NIU have given me reason to believe that, despite the real safety that our security services provide, in moments of sudden violence victims must often find themselves shockingly alone. Only a few hours ago, I received yet another reminder. I forward you this story, in which a woman was murdered this morning in her home, while on the phone with the local 911 dispatcher.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/03/20/911.call.ap/index.html

I hope you also recognize the need for self-reliant self-defense, and that our campuses are currently unprotected by that standard. Thank you for taking the time to read my concerns.

Belus

^^http://www.azdps.gov/ccw/Stats.htm

(It's great to have friends who study philosophy and political science because, even if they don't agree with you, they can really help you organize a strong argument.)

 

[UA SCCC]

Excellent, belus, thanks for posting that! I should mention that if you are in support of SB 1214, if nothing else at this time, please email/call/write a letter to your state senator, no matter what political affiliation they happen to be.

 

[UA SCCC]

SB 1214 Update

We are missing one last vote needed for the bill to be scheduled to be heard on the floor. This is the last week to do so, otherwise SB 1214 dies, by default!

Republican Senator O'Halleran is the holdout. He wants people to have to take another shooting test to be able to carry on campus. As the bill only applies to CCWs, to get a CCW you already have to take a shooting test, so this makes it more difficult than it already is to carry on-campus.

Please call/email Sen. O'Halleran to let him know that requiring another test serves no purpose, and to urge his support for SB 1214, UN-AMENDED!

Senator Tom O'Halleran
[email protected]
Room 303A
602-926-5584 (phone)
602-417-3101 (Fax)

Thanks!

 

[UA SCCC]

SB 1214 D-Day: Thursday 4/3

Today, SB 1214 is (going to be) scheduled for Committe of the Whole, where the bill will be debated and voted on. It has an amendment that isn't great (requires taking another shooting test if you want to carry inside a college building, thanks to Sen. O'Halleran) but if that's what it takes to get enough votes, it's still better than letting the bill just die.

Of the four initial Republican Senators, Huppenthal, O'Halleran, and Tibshraeny still don't like the bill.

It's come to my attention that Senators Rios and Arzberger may be supportive of SB 1214, making them especially important people to contact via phone and email to voice your support for the bill.

Rebecca Rios (Minority Whip)
[email protected]
602-926-5685

Marsha Arzberger (Minority Leader)
[email protected]
602-926-4321

As it stands, now, Senator Allen (R) is not expected to vote for the bill, at all. Sen. Tibshraeny (R) may change his vote to yes during COW, along with Huppenthal (R) and O'Halleran (R). When 1214 gets scheduled for COW, they'll be forced to vote. Even if they don't like the bill, they are not going to want to go on the record for being anti-gun and against the rest of the Republicans.

Call/email everyone, especially those listed above. This is the last chance we have this year to keep this bill moving!