Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer (R) slammed the door shut Tuesday on a full-spectrum approach to preventing gun violence in her state, just a day after suggesting that she'd listen to gun control proposals.
"I am not a proponent of gun control," the governor told reporters on Tuesday, saying that she'd reject any new curbs on gun rights. "I'm a proponent of safe areas and, certainly, safe schools."
Brewer went on to say that "we have to come up with solutions," apparently as long as they don't involve any measures to regulate gun sales or ownership.
Her comments came just a day after she appeared to take a small step back from an earlier outright rejection of gun control legislation in the wake of the December mass shooting in Newtown, Conn.
"Well, I think that gun control has been an issue that's been on the top of a lot of people’s minds after that horrible tragedy that took place in Connecticut," she said in an interview with the Arizona Republic. "I've been listening and receiving a lot of different papers and information in regards to what people believe the solutions are. So, it will be something I'm sure will be addressed in the Legislature, and my ears are all open, and I'm certainly anxious, if there’s a solution, that we get it done."
Brewer's latest comments on gun control came as Arizona marked the two-year anniversary of the Tucson mass shooting, in which six people were killed and 13 more, including then-Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D), were injured.
Giffords and her husband, astronaut Mark Kelly -- who has criticized Brewer for her role in loosening Arizona's already lax gun laws by ushering through a bill allowing Arizonans to purchase firearms without a background check -- launched a new political action committee on Tuesday aimed at curbing gun violence.
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