Arizona senators voted Thursday to allow people seeking court approval to shed their debts to keep up to $2,000 worth of firearms.
HB 2211 would scrap existing Arizona law which permits those seeking bankruptcy protection from creditors to keep a single shotgun, rifle or pistol valued at no more than $1,000.
And that $1,000 cap applies to a whole host of items in that category, including computers, typewriters, bicycles, sewing machines, family Bibles and burial plots. So if someone has a $400 computer and a $50 bicycle, he or she can keep a single gun worth up to $550.
The measure given preliminary approval would, for the first time ever, put guns into their own separate category. And there would be no limit on the number of firearms someone could shield from being sold off to creditors as long as the total value does not exceed $2,000.
Bankruptcy is handled by federal courts. What normally happens is that a person’s assets are sold to pay off creditors in exchange for the individual’s debts being wiped out.
But federal law allows each state to determine what assets are not subject to liquidation.
So, for example, current law allows someone seeking bankruptcy protection to keep $500 worth of clothes, $400 in musical instruments, a single watch worth up to $250, up to $2,000 worth of engagement and wedding rings, and horses, milk cows and poultry worth not more than $800.
A separate law exempts up to $6,000 worth of household furniture. There also is a “homestead exemption” of up to $150,000.
And then there’s the category of a typewriter, computer, bicycle, sewing machine, family Bible, burial plot — and one gun with an aggregate value of $1,000.
The original proposal pushed by the Arizona Citizens Defense League would have allowed individuals to keep an unlimited number of firearms with an unlimited value.
Lobbyist Dave Kopp said a 2008 U.S. Supreme Court decision spelled out that individuals have a constitutional right to possess guns in their own homes. He said that brought into question the legality of bankruptcy laws in Arizona and elsewhere which could limit that right.
And Rick Dalton representing the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association, told lawmakers during committee hearings that he believes Arizona should allow those who seek protection from creditors to keep one firearm for every adult in the household who is legally capable of possessing one.
That drew howls of protest from the folks who saw this as shorting creditors.
“Anything you create in an exemption means the creditors are not going to get paid,” argued Mark Osborn on behalf of the Bankruptcy Trustees Association of Arizona. And he was unapologetic about the legal process forcing people to give up much of what they own, including firearms.
“Bankruptcy should be hard,” he said. “You’re asking a court to say, ‘These people should not be paid.’ “
And Jay Kaprosy representing the Arizona Bankers Association said the issue should not be confused with the right to bear arms.
“The Second Amendment doesn’t require an unlimited number of guns,” he told lawmakers.
Lawmakers agreed, curbing the value of guns that could be protected, first to $5,000 and, now, to $2,000. But HB 2211 does not offset any of that with the value of other items.
That still did not satisfy Sen. Andrea Dallesandro, D-Green Valley, who spoke out against the scaled-back measure when it came to the Senate on Thursday. She argued there was no reason to deny money owed to creditors because someone wanted to have $2,000 worth of guns.
But Dallesandro said there’s another good reason to limit access to firearms.
“People going through bankruptcy are facing tough, challenging and very stressful times,” she said. “Financial stress often leads to domestic violence suicide and other violence.”
