PHOENIX, Ariz. — The Arizona chapters of Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action, both part of Everytown for Gun Safety, released the following statement after the Arizona Senate Judiciary Committee passed HB 2111, legislation which would attempt to nullify federal gun safety laws, including the laws that prohibit people with dangerous histories from having firearms. The legislation would encourage extremists to defy federal gun laws and punish local law enforcement for doing their jobs.
“It’s unacceptable that over 1,000 people are shot and killed every year in our state, but lawmakers are focused on extreme and unconstitutional legislation to nullify the only life-saving laws we already have,” said Anvitha Doddipalli, a volunteer leader with Students Demand Action in Arizona and a member of the Students Demand Action National Advisory Board. “We need legislation that will prevent gun violence, not cut law enforcement off at the knees.”
HB 2111 would threaten the enforcement of an array of federal public safety laws and discourage Arizona state and local law enforcement from assisting in the enforcement of these laws. Arizona lawmakers have continued to push these dangerous bills instead of life-saving gun safety measures such as legislation to disarm domestic abusers.
Arizona already has some of the weakest gun laws in the country, and under a nullification law Arizona law enforcement officers would be discouraged from assisting federal authorities in enforcing federal gun safety laws, making it even harder to keep guns out of the hands of domestic abusers. These bills would hamper local law enforcement cooperation with federal law enforcement and likely put Arizona survivors of domestic abuse in more danger of gun violence.
Additional information on gun violence in Arizona is available here, and Everytown’s Gun Law Navigator — which shows how Arizona’s gun laws compare to those of other states — is available here.