PHOENIX — A letter from a Tucson retiree who used to be a California investigator proved instrumental Monday in defeating legislation that would have allowed people to fire small-caliber “snake shot” in city limits.
HB 2022 failed on a tie vote after state Sen. Kate Brophy McGee, R-Phoenix, read the letter from Michael Cardwell who spoke of his 32 years working for the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department and patrolling its 23,000 square miles, much of that in the Mohave Desert.
He detailed — and she read for colleagues — his take on the foolishness of people who feel the need to shoot at snakes.
But it wasn’t just that Cardwell said the best course of action is to leave the snakes alone.
“The bottom line when it comes to destroying small animals like rattlesnakes is that gunfire presents a much greater danger to bystanders than the snake itself,” Brophy McGee read.
“Projectiles filed into the ground at low angles, even shotgun pellets and snake shot, very frequently ricochet and put holes in buildings, cars and people.”
Brophy McGee said she’s not sure the letter made the difference in denying Rep. Jay Lawrence, R-Scottsdale, the necessary 16 votes needed for Senate approval. Lawrence already had shepherded the bill through the House 35-25 on claims of Second Amendment rights of Arizonans to arm themselves with whatever ammunition they believe is appropriate.
But Brophy McGee said it probably helped cement the opposition as she and Republican Sen. Bob Worsley of Mesa joined with the 13 Democrats to kill it.
“I certainly hoped it help them to kind of think it through,” she said following the vote. “This was not a good bill.”
Lawrence wasn’t happy with Brophy McGee.
“I would not expect Brophy McGee to ever change her vote,” he said. “She is a Democrat,” Lawrence argued, despite her party registration and her votes with the GOP on many — though not all — issues.
That leaves Worsley. But he said he has no inclination to change his mind.
The fight involved a change to “Shannon’s Law,” a 2000 measure that makes it a felony to shoot a gun inside city limits. It’s named after Shannon Smith, who was killed the prior year from a bullet fired into the air by someone who was never caught.
Nothing in existing law prohibits the sale or possession of snake shot. The only issue was the ability to use it within city limits.
