Ducey blasts Jerry Brown's criticism of Arizona gun laws

Gov. Jerry Brown said lax laws in Arizona and Nevada are creating "a gigantic back door through which any terrorist can walk.'' The comments, made by the California governor while he is in France at the climate change summit, come days after a couple killed 14 people in a San Bernardino rampage that the FBI has described as a "terrorist act.'''

Hours after the Sacramento Bee reported the comments Saturday, Ducey issued a prepared statement blasting Brown.

"To politicize a tragedy of this magnitude and use it as an opportunity to attack our state is out of bounds,'' Ducey's statement read. "Not only will we be ignoring Gov. Brown's advice, but I call on him to retract his incredibly thoughtless and ill-advised comments.''

Ducey press aide Daniel Scarpinato said neither he nor the governor would expand on the comments.

Nor would either of them talk about Arizona's gun laws, which, unlike many states, allow the person-to-person sale of weapons without background checks. That exception also applies to gun shows.

In his comment in France, Brown said California has "the toughest gun control laws of any state.''

"Nevada and Arizona are wide open,'' he said. "So that's a gigantic back door through which any terrorist can walk.''

Brown did not address the fact that the weapons used by the couple in the San Bernardino shooting were purchased legally in his state. And the governor was noncommittal about proposals from state lawmakers there to tighten California laws.

"There'll be suggestions about things California might do,'' Brown said. "And I'll certainly look at them.''

Ducey was endorsed for governor by the National Rifle Association during his campaign last year.

"Doug Ducey will be a steadfast ally in the fight to protect our constitutional right to keep and bear arms,'' Chris Cox, chairman of the organization's Political Victory Fund, said at the time.

He said Ducey is on record opposing any expanded licensing and regulation and as a foe of "universal background checks,'' legislation that would prohibit any transfer of weapons, including at gun shows, without first determining if the buyer is a prohibited possessor.