ARIZONA CITIZENS DEFENSE LEAGUE

AzCDL Accomplishments

AzCDL is the ONLY civil liberties organization to get pro-rights bills introduced in every Legislative session we have been involved in!
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AzCDL was instrumental in the introduction and/or passage of the legislation listed below.  

The Right to Keep and Bear Arms

• Constitutional Carry - Restoration of the right of law-abiding adults to carry openly or discreetly without first seeking written permission from the government via a “permit .”
• Prohibiting state and local government officials from confiscating lawfully held firearms during a state of emergency.
• Strengthened state preemption of firearm and knife laws.
• Requiring state and local government buildings or events that prohibit weapons to provide temporary and secure storage that is readily accessible on entry and permits immediate retrieval upon exit.
• Prohibiting the courts from ordering the forfeiture of a firearm when a person is convicted of carrying in a state or local building where weapons are banned.
• Prohibiting political subdivisions (counties, cities, towns, etc.) from requiring or maintaining de facto registration records of firearms, or their owners, related to the temporary storage process.
• Preventing private or public employers, property owners, and others from banning  firearms in a locked vehicle.
• Prohibiting firearms seized by law enforcement from being scrapped.  They must now be sold to authorized dealers.
• Repealing the prohibition on carrying a firearm in a game refuge.
• Expansion of the definition of Hunter Harassment.
• Expanding the places where a weapon can be carried without a CCW permit in a vehicle to include a “map pocket.” (superseded by Constitutional Carry law).

Self Defense

• Restoration (in 2006) of “innocent until proven guilty” in self-defense situations that was taken away in 1997.
• Strengthening the elements of justification for the use of force.
• Castle Doctrine (stand your ground) strengthened.
• Clarification that a person has no duty to retreat in any place they have a right to be.
• Establishment of a justification for the defensive display of a firearm.
• Adding the presumption, in certain civil actions, that a victim acted reasonably when using physical or deadly force.

Concealed Weapon (CCW) Permits

• Elimination of the fingerprint and training requirements for CCW permit renewals.
• Reduction of the training requirement for initial CCW permits from 16 hours to 8 hours.
• Expansion of training experiences that qualify for a CCW permit.
• Near universal recognition, by Arizona, of concealed weapon/handgun permits held by residents of other states.
• Reduction of the penalty for not having your CCW permit in your possession, when required,  from a Class 2 Misdemeanor to a civil penalty.
• Ability to renew expired permits without repeating the training.
• With adequate documentation, proof of training is good for 5 years.
• Codified that training can be conducted by NRA Instructors.
• Preventing law enforcement from confiscating a firearm from someone with a suspended permit if it is otherwise lawfully possessed.
• A person with an expunged felony, or who has had their rights restored, may obtain a concealed weapons permit.

Stopping Bad Bills
AzCDL is always on the lookout for legislation that adversely affects our rights.  The following are some of the really bad, anti-rights, legislative proposals that we defeated.

• Requiring the encoding of unique serial numbers on every individual bullet and casing.  Ammunition sales would require recordation (registration) of the purchaser and a 1/2 cent tax would be assessed on every round of ammunition sold.  Possession of non-encoded ammunition would be illegal.
• An attempt to outlaw civilian border watchers by classifying gun owners as terrorists.
• Requiring gun owners to verify a buyer’s citizenship when selling a gun privately.
• Limiting magazine capacity.
• Tracking retail and private firearm sales.
• Eliminating private firearms sales.
• Making  it a crime to “store or keep any loaded firearm on any premises under the person’s control if the person knows or reasonably should know that a minor is likely to gain access...”
• An almost unlimited expansion of the definition of the  “secure” area at airports where guns are banned.
• Establishment of a 75 foot perimeter around polling places where weapons are prohibited.
• Increasing the penalty for possession of a firearm on school grounds to a Class 5 Felony.