Arizona Guns On Campus Bill Vetoed By Jan Brewer

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer vetoed a controversial measure on Monday that would have permitted guns to be carried on public rights of way at public university and community college campuses, the Arizona Republic reports.

The proposal was approved by the state legislature last week. The AP reports:

The bill's scope had been scaled back partway through the legislative process when the Senate amended it to only apply to rights of way.

The bill originally would have allowed carrying of concealed weapons in buildings, including classrooms.

According to the Arizona Daily Star, Brewer called the measure "poorly written," but also signaled she supports larger efforts to expand where firearms are allowed to be carried. The AP reports:

The bill didn't define public right of way and also could have been interpreted to apply to K-12 schools in addition to universities and community colleges, Brewer said in her veto letter.

"Bills impacting our Second Amendment rights have to be crystal clear so that gun owners don't become lawbreakers by accident," she said.

Local station KOLD 13 reports that University of Arizona President Robert Shelton, who urged Brewer to veto the measure last week, commended the governor's decision to not sign off on the bill.

"I am pleased and grateful to Gov. Brewer for her decision to veto SB 1467," he said. "Our law enforcement officers, along with many of our faculty and students, were extremely concerned that this bill would have had a detrimental effect on the campus learning environment -- one which encourages open and vigorous debate. I appreciate the Governor's decision, which helps us maintain the safety of our campus community."

Comments

[Andra Claudia Garcia]

09:00 PM on 04/20/2011

You Get A Gun + You Get a Gun + You Get A Gun..


what my tuition doesn't cover a gun???

[Slim Dude]

11:46 AM on 04/20/2011

If someone is bent on committing a mass assault on campus, they certainly realize they will not survive the event. Essentially, they are committing suicide. If this law were to pass and students/faculty are carrying handguns, why wouldn't the perpetrator simply strap a bomb under their shirt? The point is, even if this law were passed, students wouldn't really be any safer.

[phillippullig]

10:51 AM on 04/20/2011

She did the right thing

[Fonfax]

07:39 AM on 04/20/2011

Wow. A moment of sanity-pulling back from the brink. Unlike Virginia.

[Howard53545]

06:04 AM on 04/20/2011

She did the right thing! So cowboys leave your guns at home.

[Patrick Shaw]

06:02 AM on 04/20/2011

But how will some students be able to now get better marks from their professors ?

Or some students look 'cool' without their personal carry guns ?

Don't people know that carrying a personal carry gun is the ultimate expression of manliness, control and daring do ?

How are these people going to be able to live out their fantasies of stopping a mass-murderer red-handed at the Denny's or a bank robber by shooting his gun hand and making the 6pm news ?

It used to be that only people carrying large sums or jewelery received permits, now its anyone who wants to make his family jewels feel bigger.

[David Carson]

12:42 PM on 04/20/2011

why do "progressives" seem to be so willing to violate the Constitutional rights of others?

[Patrick Shaw]

02:28 PM on 04/20/2011

There are regulations on a lot of dangerous things in this world.

I cannot walk into a restaurant or any public place with a gallon of gasoline or a chainsaw, or a machete. Why a firearm ? Simply because of a dubious generality about militias and the right to bear arms? Pooh.

Slavery was written into the Constitution and that was changed, only men and land owners were permitted to vote and that was changed, soldiers of 18 could die for their country yet not vote and that was changed, alcohol was banned in the 18th and repealed in the 21st.

No one has the right to carry dangerous objects around others in a public place.

And you misspoke when you said the right to carry arms is in the Constitution...it is not.

It is in the 2nd Amendment to the Constitution...meaning it was added after the Constitution was approved. An added right, and just like slavery, and racial suffrage, and suffrage for women, and the banning and repealing of alcohol the right to bear arms can and will be regulated.

[Toonadude]

12:59 PM on 04/21/2011

So your saying that Bush, Rove, Cheney, Gonzales & Rummy were progressives?
Hmmm.

[bigshotprof]

02:36 AM on 04/20/2011

First the birther bill, now guns on campus? What have you people done with the real Jan Brewer? I think the pod people got her!

[kamact]

09:43 PM on 04/19/2011

Let's all of us Americans care guns at all times,...so that when we disagree on anything, we justvshot each other,...What great fun,...assuming you shot first

[Adam Davies]

03:00 AM on 04/20/2011

Too bad for you that in the parts of America that people can carry guns at all times, that doesn't happen. Before any state allowed concealed carry, people claimed it would cause shoot outs over small disagreements, a fear that has never materialized.

[Westof405]

09:35 PM on 04/19/2011

Brewer just wants an "anytime, anywhere" bill with no nuance in it, so anyone can carry a gun wherever they want. That way law enforcement won't have to arrest anyone for carrying gun anywhere. I think her statement makes that pretty clear-she doesn't want any gun owners inconvenienced by the law.

[maattwo]

09:19 PM on 04/19/2011

I guess she is doing the right thing for the wrong reason. I expect that the legislature will figure out what she meant in her veto message and find a way to get her to sign. I doubt that guns on campus will make much of a difference in daily life. My biggest fear is that abusive men will now use guns to further intimidate their targets. Family housing generally has high rates of partner violence, and guns will just increase the danger.

[eyelashviper]

08:11 PM on 04/19/2011

Does she have any idea how mad Rush is gonna be? Between depriving youth of their guns, she is protecting the birfer President.....tea bags will be flying in Arizona.

[Igor13]

07:54 PM on 04/19/2011

Looking at that picture above, I've got to ask.
Is that the guy involved in the hunting accident with Cheney?

[Mountain Momma]

07:49 PM on 04/19/2011

Seems like she's been walking back the crazy lately. Wonder why?

[Red State Blues]

10:01 PM on 04/19/2011

She won the election and doesn't have to throw bones to the heavily armed TP anymore. My perspective from Tucson

[Dr Paine]

04:59 PM on 04/19/2011

Common sense prevails. I have been concerned with this reactionary trend, which was born of a disproportional reaction to extremely rare, albeit tragic, events. Anyone familiar with the college environment understands that the chilling effect on unihibited discourse would be far more powerful than any assumed benefit. As someone who owns guns, and supports the reasonable right to bear arms, I also recognize that certain concessions are rational. Individual liberty and public safety are a continuum along which negotiation never ceases. It is politically, legally, and historically naive to assume that rights are absolute.

From the UPI: "Administrators and campus police chiefs at Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University and the University of Arizona oppose the measures, as do most students..."
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2011/02/27/Arizona-considering-classroom-guns/UPI-73801298820746/

Do you suppose the resistance of college administrators and police chiefs is because they hate our liberties and have some fixation with infringing upon them, or is it more likely that intuition based upon experience, as well as reason, suggest the folly of this proposal?

[DeclineToState]

07:19 PM on 04/19/2011

"Intuition based upon experience"? "Reason"? Hardly. Experience does not validate the hysterical fears about drunken shootings, threats over grades, blood in the dormitories, etc.

"Since the fall semester of 2006, state law has allowed licensed individuals to carry concealed handguns on the campuses of the nine degree-offering public colleges (20 campuses) and one public technical college (10 campuses) in Utah. Concealed carry has been allowed at Colorado State University (Fort Collins, CO) since 2003 and at Blue Ridge Community College (Weyers Cave, VA) since 1995. After allowing concealed carry on campus for a combined total of one hundred semesters, none of these twelve schools has seen a single resulting incident of gun violence (including threats and suicides), a single gun accident, or a single gun theft."

http://www.concealedcampus.org/common_arguments.php

[phillippullig]

09:59 PM on 04/19/2011

I agree with you that most people would be responsible carriers and violence would be rare. Yet, these are isolated cases and is there any evidence that the presence of guns had any positive effects. So, I agree with you that there won't be widespread violence but, with the known potential dangerous situations that guns bring (accidental firing, gun theft, confusion in the event of a shooting) are there enough positive effects to justify allowing students to bring guns? I don't think it is.

[rikilii]

03:54 PM on 04/20/2011

"Common sense prevails."

I wouldn't automatically call it "common sense" that a person who is lawfully walking down the street with a concealed weapon has to suddenly stop because that street happens to pass through a college campus.

[Aksumite]

03:25 PM on 04/19/2011

This lady is full of surprises.