Arizona Senate thwarts Republicans' attempt at getting loaded guns onto grade school parking lots

Second Amendment maniacs took the L on Thursday when Arizona state senators voted 15-14 to reject a piece of legislation that would have allowed loaded guns to be left in cars on school district and charter school premises. Yes, you read that right: House Bill 2693, introduced by Republican state Rep. Warren Peterson, was presented as a solution to parents dropping their kids off at school with loaded firearms in their vehicles.

According to AZ Central, Rep. Peterson explained his burning need to save parents from themselves during a February hearing on the bill, saying, “We have mothers; we have fathers that carry weapons in their car. People just aren't even aware of this." Democrats and what passes for “moderate” Republicans did not agree. The bill passed through the state’s House 31-27, on strict party lines, in March. At the time, Republican state Rep. Regina Cobb told Tuscon.com that the hassle of having to unload and reload your car gun was dangerous: “I would not have wanted to stop a block away, unload my gun, go on to the school grounds and then come back and reload it again. Using guns for most of my life, I know that’s when accidents happen.”

Driving to school in the morning with state Rep. Cobb must be a harrowing experience, as she must be consistently having to fend off packs of post-apocalyptic boogie men while singing Wheels on the Bus. At the time, Democratic state Rep. Domingo DeGrazia made the salient point that if you were so afraid of people that you needed a gun on school grounds but you were willing to leave your child unarmed on school grounds, what the hell are you going on about? He also pointed out that if loading and unloading your gun was so dangerous, maybe Arizona lawmakers should be worrying more about promoting gun training and safety classes, and less time trying to legalize universally loaded weaponry.

According to Giffords Law Center, Arizona already has very specific laws about guns on K-12 public and charter school campuses. You are not allowed to have them there, with two exceptions:

An adult may have an unloaded firearm in their vehicle but that firearm must not be visible, and that firearm must be in a locked compartment. Someone with a legal concealed carry permit may be allowed on campus if it is part of a school-approved program.

The bill was promoted by the NRA but luckily, the state’s Senate was able to narrowly thwart this backdoor attempt at making guns legal on grade school campuses.

from Daily Kos http://bit.ly/2Z7mDq1