Gov. Jan Brewer has vetoed House Bill 2339, which allows guns in public buildings and events that do not provide security guards and metal detectors at each entrance. It does not apply to K-12 schools, community colleges or universities.
Brewer has twice before vetoed similar bills, in 2012 and 2011. She voiced concerns over the cost to local governments to meet the requirements needed to keep guns out as well as allowing guns in certain public buildings.
"The decision to permit or prohibit guns in these extremely sensitive locations — whether a City Council chamber or branch office staffed with state workers — should be cooperatively reached and supported by a broad coalition of stakeholders, including citizens, law enforcement officials and local government leaders," Brewer wrote in her 2012 veto.
Brewer on Tuesday also vetoed HB 2517, which would have added penalties to existing state law that limits how cities, towns and counties from regulating firearms more strictly than the state does.
If a local government passed such a regulation, the law would have required the courts to declare it invalid and allowed any government official involved in the regulation to personally be fined up to $5,000 and removed from office. Any person who felt they were adversely affected by the regulation could have sued and sought up to $100,000 in damages.
The National Rifle Association and the Arizona Citizens Defense League supported the bills. Cities, counties and local law enforcement opposed it.
