Arizonans under 18 free to carry guns, Appeals Court rules
Ban applied only in Pima, Maricopa

http://www.azstarnet.com/public/dnews/GUNS.html

Thursday, 9 December 1999

By Howard Fischer
Capitol Media Services

Arizona teen-agers once again are free to carry guns without fear of arrest.
In a unanimous ruling, the Arizona Court of Appeals struck down a 3-year-old law making it illegal for juveniles to carry firearms.
The judges said the Legislature is free to impose restrictions on youth access to weapons. But it erred in making the law applicable only in Pima and Maricopa counties.
On paper, the court left the door open to legislators to rewrite the law to apply statewide. However, opposition from rural lawmakers to the first plan resulted in its scope being narrowed to only the two most populous counties.
The new ruling drew immediate concern from the chief prosecutors in both counties.
Maricopa County Attorney Rick Romley said police officers use the law to help cut down on youngsters with guns, including gang members.
``We have finally begun to turn the tide on violence with guns,'' he said. Romley called the ruling ``significant.''
Pima County Attorney Barbara LaWall said she wants lawmakers to revamp the law to make it constitutional.
The case stems from the arrest of an unidentified youngster in Pima County for firing four shots into the air in a residential neighborhood. He was charged with disorderly conduct - not an issue in this appeal - and violating a law that makes it illegal for anyone under age 18 to possess a firearm in a public place.
He was found delinquent, placed on intensive probation and ordered to pay a $100 fine.
His court-appointed attorney appealed, saying the law making it illegal for his client to carry a gun is unconstitutional. Appellate Judge William Druke, writing for the unanimous court, agreed.
Druke pointed out that the state constitution specifically blocks the Legislature from enacting special criminal laws. In this case, he said, lawmakers clearly voted to make the youngster's possession of a gun a crime in Pima County - something that remains legal in the 13 rural counties.
The court brushed aside claims by Pima County attorneys that the Legislature had a rational basis for the difference. The judges said there was no evidence that street gangs are more likely to exist in urban areas than rural ones or that there is a higher incidence of gun-related crimes in urban counties.
Druke said the law makes no sense: It applies to the rural areas of the two counties such as Ajo and Gila Bend but leaves untouched urban areas of the other counties.
Rep. Mark Anderson, R-Mesa, who sponsored the latest version of the bill, said he will try to resurrect the law to make it apply statewide. He said, though, that rural lawmakers opposed that move even after exceptions were made for youngsters engaged in certain activities such as hunting and marksmanship practice at shooting ranges.
Romley said he doubts Anderson will be successful.
``Rural areas have a different opinion,'' he said. Romley pointed out that rural lawmakers have sought to have their areas exempt from other proposals such as one bill that would have made it illegal for youngsters to travel in the open beds of pickup trucks.
He also called it ``hogwash'' to assume that gangs don't exist outside the two big counties.
LaWall said police officers in Pima County make extensive use of the law.
``We're not just talking about gang members,'' she said. ``We're talking about kids who bring guns (to school and elsewhere) and brandish them and show them to other kids.''
Possession of a weapon on school grounds is a separate crime that remains untouched by the court ruling. But that requires police to actually catch the youngster with the weapon on campus.
She said not everyone arrested on this charge is prosecuted. Some youngsters who have no criminal backgrounds are instead allowed to go through gun safety programs.
``But the way we make them do it is (that) there's a law hanging over their heads,'' she said: Attend the class or wind up in court.
LaWall said having youngsters adjudicated delinquent on gun possession charges also allows the court to place them on probation. She said this opens the door to rapid intervention if a youngster gets into trouble with drugs or something else.
Romley said the law also gives police additional tools to use when youngsters are on the streets late at night.


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