PHOENIX — Under proposed legislation, Arizona gun owners could escape being prosecuted under “Shannon’s Law” if they say it was just an accident that they fired their gun into the air.
The House Judiciary Committee voted by a 6-5 margin Wednesday to say that criminal negligence in discharging a weapon within a city would no longer be a felony. Instead, prosecutors would have to show that someone knowingly or recklessly shot off a few rounds.
No one could be prosecuted unless the accidental discharge occurred within a quarter mile of an occupied structure, versus one mile under current law.
“Accidents are an unfortunate fact of life,” said Rep. Tony Rivero, R-Peoria, who is sponsoring HB 2287.
“People have hundreds of automobile accidents in the Valley area every day,” he told the committee. “Yet, we rarely treat them as criminal, depending on the circumstances.”
Dave Kopp, lobbyist for the Arizona Citizens Defense League, which lobbies for the rights of gun owners, said it’s even simpler than that.
“We don’t think stupid should be a felony,” he said.
But Rep. Maria Syms, R-Paradise Valley, said the change would do more than excuse people who just inadvertently pulled the trigger with their gun out.
Quoting from state law about what it takes now to convict someone of criminal negligence, she said: “‘The risk must be of such nature and degree that the failure to perceive it constitutes a gross deviation from the standard of care that a reasonable person would observe in the situation.’”
“Based on that definition, I would be very surprised to find anyone being prosecuted for accidentally shooting a gun,” she said, joining Democrats on the panel to vote against the measure.
The law named after 14-year-old Shannon Smith was adopted in 2000 in the wake of her death the prior year. She was killed by a stray bullet, apparently fired into the air from as far as a half-mile away. No one was arrested.
The family convinced lawmakers to turn the offense, originally a misdemeanor, into a felony.
Rivero said that makes no sense. “The vast majority of firearm discharges result in no injuries and very minimal property damage,” he said. “How many miscarriages of justice are acceptable?”
Syms was not convinced. “Is anyone really prosecuted for an accident?” she asked. “Or are they being prosecuted for what the statute says: criminal negligence, which is a higher standard?”
Neither Rivero nor Kopp cited an instance of someone being prosecuted for a purely accidental discharge of a firearm, versus someone knowingly celebrating an event, such as New Year’s Eve, by intentionally shooting the gun. Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery said no one from his office has been able to find a single case where someone was prosecuted for an accident.
Montgomery said he opposes the legislation and wants to retain the criminal penalties for those who are criminally negligent in firing a gun.
Kopp, in his testimony, said true accidents should not happen.
“We like folks to be up on the rules and know that any touching of the trigger when you don’t have a defined target is a bad thing,” he told lawmakers. “But let’s face it: We’re all people, we’re all fallible, and accidents happen.”
Kopp said the other change in the bill — making it a crime only if the accidental or reckless shooting occurred within a quarter-mile of an occupied structure — would simply bring the statute in line with hunting laws with similar perimeter restrictions.
Montgomery, however, said, “I have no info to support changing the distance to one-quarter of a mile. A bullet fired into the air can go much further.’’
The measure still needs approval by the full House.
