IMPORTANT!!
THESE STATUTES HAVE BEEN CHANGED:

13-501 Responsibility
13-1101 Homicide definitions
13-3112 Permit to carry
13-3114 Handgun clearance center
13-3601 Domestic violence
13-3602 Order of protection
13-3967 Release on bail
17-240 Disposition of devices

Two new justifications for deadly force added:

13-416 Use of reasonable and necessary means
13-417 Necessity defense

Page: (bold)

2 -Copyright 1999, 19th edition

3 - Table of Contents adjusted

23 - "Aggravated harassment" added to list of domestic violence crimes

24 - Certain court protection orders now require confiscation and prohibit purchase or possession of guns by defendant, if court decides there is a credible threat to people named in the order.

25 - A summary about loss of rights and restoration of rights has been added.

27 - As recently as 1994 there were basically no regulations on children, but the sudden onset of outrageous juvenile violence has changed that.

31 - The Arizona Handgun Clearance Center has been changed to the Arizona Firearms Clearance Center. This allows it to control all retail gun sales, not just handguns, and link directly to the FBI National Instant Check, under Brady Law Part 2.

33 - Only government-issued photo ID is valid for retail firearms purchase. Requirements of the National Instant Check are in Chapter 7.

39 - DPS is now authorized, under 13-3112, to make reciprocity deals with other states it decides are "substantially similar" to Arizona. No such states have been found as we go to press.

40 - The national reciprocity list has been updated.

41 - Federal law requires written notification when transporting firearms by airplane or other common carrier, but verbal notice is frequently accepted.

42 - An appeals court decided that the state preemption law did not stop Tucson from banning guns in parks, despite clear law and the state Constitution to the contrary. This throws doubt on the state preemption law for other cases.

43 - Some businesses have "enacted" policies prohibiting employees from having guns, even in their cars. Legal precedence for this is unclear, though a violator would likely have to make any arguments from the unemployment line.

49 - Photo ID is required for handgun and long gun retail purchase. Brady paperwork ends Nov. 30, 1998, the Handgun Clearance Center is now the Firearms Clearance Center, and it does a background check on all guns, including the federal "NICS" instant check.

51 - Some judges are "rewriting" our laws and have replaced the long standing "partially visible" standard spelled out in the statute, by requiring "conspicuous and obvious display" while carrying openly. This puts you at increased risk for otherwise legal behavior. Only the legislature is empowered and qualified to change the law.

53 - If you're carrying openly but it's less than obvious, you may be found in violation. Concealed permits are available to any U.S. citizen and any resident of Arizona (formerly only Arizona residents).

54 - The permit suspension procedure has changed, and Brady s-1-c no longer applies (it expires 11/30/98). Also, "Arizona resident" is now "U.S. citizen or Arizona resident."

55 - Active duty Arizona and Federal police no longer have to take the 16-hour training program for a CCW permit. The new application form is Form "D."

56 -Refresher class is 4 hours, with 2 in class and 2 at range, 10-question and 10-shot tests, and $50 fee to DPS. Refresher may be taken no more than 90 days before your expiration date, or up to 60 days after, but permit is NOT VALID after its expiration date. If you carry with an expired permit you are in violation. If you miss getting renewed in the 60 day window, you must take the 16 hour new-permit class again.

57 - The paragraph about residency has been dropped, since this is no longer a requirement. DPS is actually developing guidelines for who might qualify as a non-U.S.-citizen resident of Arizona, a quirk created by the new law's language.

67 - Change the phrase "gun case" to "obvious gun case," to reflect the effect of activist judges that have convicted individuals who, in former similar cases, would have been in compliance with the law.

69 - A concealed carry permit does not protect passengers in a car from charges of carrying a concealed weapon--particularly the permitee's weapon--if they are illegally near it. Also, if you have no permit and carry openly, it must be very plainly evident, according to recent case law.

72 -CCW holders are exempt from federal gun-free school zones carrying restrictions, but in a monumental oversight (some say a deliberate and misguided effort) shooting in such a zone, even to stop an obvious Illegal lethal assault, would violate federal law.

75 - The term "destructive device" does not apply to regular shotguns.

93 - Military ranges are open to civilian use under the Civilian Marksmanship Program.

108 - Two new justifications for the use of deadly force have been added. In 13-416, private prison employees are allowed to use deadly force in some situations related to control of prisoners. In 13-417, the necessity defense, no one really knows what this will do. Call us if you have any ideas.

125 - Formerly, numerous federal attempts to create a national firearm registry have all been stopped under existing federal law. A registry has now been implemented in the name of the Brady law, although that law in fact prohibits any such actions. All innocent retail gun buyers will be recorded by the FBI. About 10 million Americans will be listed annually. Details on our website.

127 - The Federal Firearms Transportation Guarantee is now included word-for-word.

129 - The Brady Law Part 1. Enacted in 1993 as the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, the Brady law in reality turned out to be five things:

1-Centralized federal control over all handgun and long gun retail sales;

2-A $200 million funding mechanism for a national computer system capable of checking out any individual from a single FBI location;

3-The roots of a national ID card requirement (based on drivers' licenses and social security numbers) for all original firearm purchases;

4-The most thorough commerce tracking system on earth, initially only for retail sales of firearms in America; and

5-A mechanism for preventing known criminals from directly purchasing firearms at retail and paying sales tax.

The widely publicized five-day waiting period was largely a myth, and never existed in most states (Arizona never had one). The effect of the Brady law on crime reduction is essentially unknown, since the 250,000 criminals reportedly identified by the system (the number is hotly disputed) are on the loose--virtually no effort to track or apprehend them has been made. It is a five-year federal felony for criminals and other disqualified persons to attempt to purchase a firearm.

Part 1 of the law, set to expire 60 months after enactment, remains in the text in small type (it expires Nov. 30, 1998, assuming it is not reenacted as some politicians have suggested doing), shortly after this edition of The Guide goes to press. Brady Part 2, the National Instant Background Check (dubbed NICS by the FBI, who has replaced BATF to operate the system), is described as it appears in the federal statute. Complex regulations to implement the new law, which are basically transparent in this state, are not covered in the book (but are available in their entirety on our website).

Several unknowns will be resolved after this edition. The main point is the FBI's announced plan to use the Brady computer system, now built, to record the name and address of every gun buyer in America, in apparent violation of long-standing law (strictly forbidden in both the McClure Volkmer Act, 1986, and the Brady law itself). FBI final regulations (10/30/98) are clear--they will record and back up the names and addresses of all retail gun buyers. In addition, the Justice Dept. plans to levy a tax on the sale of firearms, and give the funds to the FBI, with no apparent authority to do so (taxes are supposed to originate in Congress). (Note: The per-sale tax was dropped when Congress gave the FBI $42 million in tax dollars in cash.) States that agree to cooperate with the FBI, as Arizona has done, will avoid the tax on its licensed dealers.

131 - The Brady Law Part 2--National Instant Check

The Brady Law requires the U.S. Attorney General (AG) to establish a National Instant Criminal Background Check system (NICS) before Nov. 30, 1998. Once this is in effect (30 days after the AG notifies all FFLs that the system is running and how to use it), the previous process is eliminated. In order to transfer any firearm, not just handguns, when the NICS system is in place, a dealer must verify your identity from a government-issued photo-ID card, contact the system (based in Clarksburg, W. Va., run by the FBI), identify you and either: 1-get a unique transfer number back from the system, or, 2-wait three days during which state offices are open and during which the system provides no notice that the transfer would violate relevant laws.

Arizona has been designated a "Point of Contact" state by the FBI. This means that dealers here will contact the DPS Firearms Clearance Center (formerly the Handgun Clearance Center) for all gun sales, as they have been doing for five years for handgun sales. The DPS instant check will then automatically include a check of the NICS system, and the process will be transparent to Arizona buyers. In other states, dealers will have to contact the FBI directly.

The NICS system is required to issue the transfer number if the transfer would violate no relevant laws, and it must destroy all records of approved inquiries except for the identifying number and the date it was issued. The FBI, however, has indicated they intend to record the name and address of everyone who buys a gun once the system is running, and Congress has apparently failed to stop them. If the transfer is legal, the dealer includes the transfer number on a redesigned version of the 4473 form. The NICS system is bypassed under certain conditions, including for a buyer with a valid CCW permit, though there is some question as to what qualifies as a valid permit.

A licensed dealer who violates these requirements is subject to a civil fine of up to $5,000 and suspension or revocation of their license, but only if the system would have shown that the customer would have been ineligible to buy a gun. The only Brady NICS punishment is directed to the dealer, not the customer (other laws penalize a purchase or attempted purchase by a prohibited possessor).

If you are denied a firearm under NICS, federal law says you may request the reason directly from NICS and it must present you with a written answer within five business days. You may also request the reason from the U.S. Attorney General, who must respond "immediately," according to the law. You may provide information to fix any errors in the system, and the AG must immediately consider the information, investigate further, correct any erroneous federal records and notify any federal or state agency that was the source of the errors. The federal appeals process has not been issued, which provides it's own wrinkle--your rights denied by bureaucratic paperwork delay.

133 - The Brady Alternate States list has grown and is listed.

134 - The 1994 crime bill outlaws purchase or possession of firearms or ammo by anyone under a domestic violence charge.

138 - In item 6, change "possessed" to "possession," to keep the list parallel.

139 - School zones law creates millions of "innocent" offenses daily, as regular people simply travel through populated areas while carrying personal firearms. And 6,000 kids carrying guns in schools in 1997 (including Kip Kinkle) were simply sent home, according to the Education Dept. (not the Justice Dept.).

181 - The gun law appendix has been updated through the 1998 legislative year. Your legislature usually passes new gun laws at the end of its regular session, which runs from January until between April and June.

In the 1998 session, 41-1750 was amended to allow DPS to charge a non-refundable fingerprinting fee as of July 1, 1999. Clear authority to charge such a fee, which has been in place for CCW permits since 1994, has been lacking. Local, state and federal noncriminal justice agencies are exempt from the fee.