League of Women Voters of Arizona 1934 E. Camelback Rd. Suite 120, #277 Phoenix, Arizona 85016 lwvaz.org [email protected] LWVAZ @LWVAZ @LWVAZ LWVAZ League of Women Voters of Arizona 1934 E. Camelback Rd., Suite 120, #277, Phoenix, Arizona 85016 Table of Contents Pre-Convention Workshops ............................................................................................................................... 3 STUDY REPORT AND POLICY PROPOSAL ................................................................................................ 4 LWVAZ GUN SAFETY STUDY COMMITTEE REPORT ................................................................................ 4 Introduction................................................................................................................................................. 4 Background: Gun Violence and Gun Safety in Arizona ............................................................................... 5 The LWVAZ Gun Safety Study Committee: ................................................................................................ 6 The Committee’s Work and Major Projects ................................................................................................. 6 PROPOSAL AND RECOMMENDATIONS ................................................................................................... 12 Position Statement ................................................................................................................................... 12 Next Steps ................................................................................................................................................ 13 Timeliness of this Study and Proposal ...................................................................................................... 13 LWVAZ GUN SAFETY STUDY ADDENDUM .................................................................................................. 17 ADDENDUM A ............................................................................................................................................. 17 ADDENDUM B ............................................................................................................................................. 18 Gun Safety Study Surveys ........................................................................................................................ 18 ADDENDUM C ............................................................................................................................................. 22 ADDENDUM D ............................................................................................................................................. 22 ADDENDUM E ............................................................................................................................................. 38 LWVAZ @LWVAZ Website: lwvaz.org email: [email protected] Top of document Page 2 of 42 League of Women Voters of Arizona 1934 E. Camelback Rd., Suite 120, #277, Phoenix, Arizona 85016 Pre-Convention Workshops Tuesday, May 4, 6:00 PM Budgets Lynn Hoffman An opportunity to review and ask questions about the proposed LWVAZ Operations and LWVAZ State Ed Fund Budget. Thursday, May 6, 6:00 PM Zoom Protocols Pinny Sheoran & Judy Wood Saturday, May 8, 1:00 PM Zoom Protocols Pinny Sheoran & Judy Wood A time to practice the Zoom protocols that will be used for voting, raising hand to be recognized, and other protocols. (Same workshop is offered two different times.) Monday, May 10, 6:00 PM Criminal Justice Reform Concurrence Nancy Hand It is proposed that LWVAZ adopt the Criminal Justice Reform Position from California. This is the time to ask questions and become informed. Tuesday, May 11, 6:00 PM Policy Positions Betty Bengtson An important part of Convention is the adoption of Public Policy Positions for the coming two years. For a greater understanding of the process and proposed review of current positions attend this workshop. Wednesday, May 12, 6:00 PM Gun Safety Study Kathy Aros For two years the Gun Safety Committee has studied the issue and is now bringing it to the Convention for adoption. Thursday, May 13, 6:00 PM Bylaws Amendments Susan Walter The LWVAZ State Bylaws have undergone some proposed changes; we will vote on these changes at Convention. Join this workshop to learn more about the changes. There will be time for a Q&A. LWVAZ @LWVAZ Website: lwvaz.org email: [email protected] Top of document Page 3 of 42 League of Women Voters of Arizona 1934 E. Camelback Rd., Suite 120, #277, Phoenix, Arizona 85016 Gun Safety Consensus STUDY REPORT AND POLICY PROPOSAL The LWVAZ Gun Safety Study Committee requests that the LWVAZ Convention adopt the proposed position on gun safety as a new policy position. The Gun Safety Study Committee is made up of members from multiple Arizona Leagues and respectfully submits this report. Kathy Aros, Chair Greater Tucson Lynn Blankenship Greater Tucson Kristin Delaplane Greater Tucson Kathy Dubbs Greater Tucson Michele Garrick Nave NW Maricopa Mary Grove Northern Arizona Joyce Haas Central Yavapai Laura Hudson Metro Phoenix Freda Johnson Greater Tucson Susan Peters Greater Tucson Mary Elizabeth Pollard Greater Tucson Elizabeth Zegura Greater Tucson LWVAZ GUN SAFETY STUDY COMMITTEE REPORT Introduction Guns and Ammo Magazine has consistently ranked Arizona the #1 best state for gun owners. It receives top marks in every single category.1 Why? Because Arizona has almost no laws governing firearms. In Arizona you can: • Buy a gun without a waiting period, license, registration, or training. • Carry a concealed weapon without a license if you are 21. • Buy an assault weapon or large‐capacity magazine. • Buy a gun from an unlicensed dealer without a background check. • Keep an unlocked, loaded gun in your home even if children are present. • Keep a gun even though you may pose a threat to yourself or others. • Carry a gun—openly or concealed—almost everywhere. • Possess a gun even though you have been convicted of misdemeanor domestic abuse which is against federal law. In the latest polls, 97% of Americans support Universal Background Checks for the purchase of a gun. Most people—including gun owners—also support other sensible gun laws. Many of these laws have been proposed in the Arizona State Legislature every year, but most never get a hearing. The Gun Safety Study Committee, after nearly two years of research, proposes that LWVAZ adopt a LWVAZ @LWVAZ Website: lwvaz.org email: [email protected] Top of document Page 4 of 42 League of Women Voters of Arizona 1934 E. Camelback Rd., Suite 120, #277, Phoenix, Arizona 85016 position on gun safety so that members of our league may ally with other groups to lobby for laws to make Arizonans safer from gun violence. What follows is a more detailed look at gun violence and safety issues in Arizona, as well as a summary of the Gun Safety Study Committee’s origins, goals, and protocols; an overview of the projects undertaken by the Committee, including our research, surveys, Facts & Issues reports, and interactive JR Project event; and our conclusions and proposed Position Statement, together with reflections on where to go from here. Background: Gun Violence and Gun Safety in Arizona Someone is killed with a gun every eight hours in Arizona. The state recorded 1,136 firearm deaths in 2019—an increase of over 200 fatalities in a five‐year period.2 Of the dead, some were children whose deaths would have been 100% preventable with a Safe Gun Storage law; others were victims of domestic violence, murdered by partners or relatives with a history of aggression; and many were suicide victims— often acting on impulse—who might have lived if their firearms had been locked up and unloaded. Mass shootings occur every year both nationwide and in Arizona. The Gun Violence Archive defines these events as acts of gun violence in which four or more persons are killed or injured, not including the shooter.3 The deadliest of these in recent years was the 2011 Safeway parking lot shooting in Tucson, where a young man with high‐capacity magazines and a semi‐automatic weapon killed six and wounded 13, including Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. Despite its political motivation and high‐profile victims, the incident was by no means unusual. As recently as 2019, six mass shootings with seven people dead and 27 wounded were recorded in the state.4 Common sense firearms safety laws would help mitigate the gun violence crisis. Yet none of the many gun safety bills introduced in the Arizona legislature since 2014 have reached the committee floor.5 The proposals that failed to gain a hearing during that period included Safe Gun Storage bills, bans on assault weapons and bump‐piece devices, limits on magazine capacity, required background checks for firearm transfers, the removal of firearms from perpetrators of domestic assault, and Severe Threat Orders of Protection—or “Red Flag” laws—to restrict firearm access for individuals posing a danger to themselves or others. Even non‐regulatory proposals only peripherally related to firearms—such as a bill proposing the creation of a school safety hotline and an initiative calling for a committee to study violence prevention and public safety— were blocked.6 Despite research documenting the effectiveness of firearm safety measures, a partisan majority of Arizona legislators have long opposed gun safety regulations, while passing firearm bills that protect guns, and those who use them,