PHOENIX — The Republican-controlled state House voted 35-25 Wednesday along party lines in favor of a law to let people shoot weapons within city limits, this one promoted as a way to protect homeowners from varmints.
HB 2022, sponsored by Rep. Jay Lawrence, R-Scottsdale, is billed as a method to allow city dwellers to kill snakes and rats without having to trap them or bludgeon them to death.
Instead, they could fire a gun loaded with what’s known as “rat shot” or “snake shot.” Those cartridges are loaded with pellets 1.3 millimeters or less in diameter. For comparison, grains of sand can be as small as 2 millimeters.
The measure has drawn opposition from the Phoenix Herpetological Society, the Sierra Club and other groups that question the need to see snakes as a nuisance.
Deputy Pima County Attorney Kathleen Mayer said she’s concerned that the legislation doesn’t actually require the shooter to be trying to kill a pest. “The way it’s written, you can go anywhere and shoot it,” she said. “You’re not limited to just protecting your property.”
Mayer said the proposed law would create an exception to Arizona laws that now generally prohibit people from firing weapons within city limits. Once lawmakers start down that path, it may be impossible to stop, she said.
“It’s the nose of the camel under the flap of the tent,” Mayer said.
Lawrence said he sees no danger to the public from allowing people to use the small-caliber ammunition in city limits. He said it’s no more dangerous than throwing sand at someone.
In support of his measure, he secured the testimony of Peter Steinmetz, director of the Nakamoto Brain Research Institute in Tempe. He told lawmakers of the dangers of neurotoxins of rattlesnakes.
Former Graham County Sheriff Richard Mack called this type of ammunition “about the safest way to kill something in your yard.”
Mayer, however, said she has her doubts that the legislation is really about dispatching snakes.
“You have to be within five feet of a rattlesnake to have any effect on one of those, according to what I’ve seen online, with this kind of shot,” she said. “If you’re within five feet of a snake, you’d be a lot more effective chopping its head off with a hoe.”
And Mayer said she doubts anyone would really be able to kill a rat with a handgun, saying they “move pretty fast.”
“There doesn’t seem to me to be any useful purpose for this ammunition, other than for somebody to have fun shooting it,” she said.
The measure would amend “Shannon’s Law,” which was approved by legislators in 2000 after a 14-year-old, Shannon Smith, died when struck by a bullet fired into the air.
It is the second attempt this year to amend that law. HB 2287, which awaits a House floor vote, would require prosecutors to prove that someone knowingly or recklessly fired a weapon. Its sponsor said the state should not prosecute people who have accidents with their guns.
GUNS IN PUBLIC BUILDINGS
In separate action Wednesday, the Senate Government Committee voted 4-3 to allow people who have a state-issued permit to carry a concealed weapon to bring their firearms into public buildings.
Current law makes such buildings off limits if there are “no guns” signs at public entrances. Under SB 1243, building operators would need to install metal detectors and have security guards at each door.
Sen. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, contends that only “law-abiding citizens” obey “no guns” signs and either leave their weapons in their vehicles or put them into lockers. He said that leaves them defenseless should someone else who has ignored the signs decide to start firing.
Former Gov. Jan Brewer vetoed similar measures in 2011, 2012 and 2014, saying she was concerned about the cost to cities and counties for metal detectors.
The measure hasn’t reached current Gov. Doug Ducey’s desk since he took office in 2015.
