House passes gun safety bill

Anyone who bans a gun from an event or a public building in Arizona would be required to provide a safe place for a gun owner to store it.

If not, the owner could bring the gun in.

The gun safety bill was passed Tuesday by the House of Representatives after long debate over guns and gun safety.

Backers say it respects the rights of gun owners, while opponents said it would be better for people to leave their guns at home rather than taking them into a public building or to a special event.

The Senate has already approved the bill and after a final House vote, it will go to Gov. Janet Napolitano.

The bill could conflict with another state law that allows the operators of public buildings and events to ban weapons.

Backers say the solution is requiring the building operator to provide "secure storage" for weapons. The operator also must provide a key to that storage space so the gun owner can retrieve the weapon upon leaving.

If these conditions can't be met, the gun can be brought in.

Rep. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, said it respects the rights of gun owners. "If we're going to take from them what they legally have," Pearce said, then the state must provide secure storage.

Rep. Theresa Ulmer, D-Yuma, questioned why gun owners can't leave their weapon behind when entering a public building.

And Rep. Ted Prezelski, D-Tucson, said the cost of providing storage lockers "in close proximity" to a building entrance could be a budget drain, especially since the bill does not contain any money for doing so.

Prezelski said he wondered if the intent of the legislation was to essentially allow guns in public buildings since it would be difficult to estimate how much storage would be needed and where the money would come from to pay for gun lockers.

Rep. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, said it is safer if a gun is carried by its owner than locked up in a car, where it could be stolen.

As for the cost, Kavanagh said, government would have to pay up in the name of promoting good government, just as it had to with the passage of the Americans With Disabilities Act. "The cost of complying with the ADA is 1,000 times more than the cost of lock boxes," Kavanagh said.