http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/knau/local-knau-952478.mp3
Phoenix, AZ – State law generally bans guns on campuses. This measure would
create an exception for those who have a state-issued permit to
carry a concealed weapon. University of Arizona Police Chief
Anthony Daykin said that permit doesn't require much training at
all. And Daykin told members of the Senate Judiciary Committee
the proposal will create problems for officers who respond to a
report of a shooting on campus.
(Putting more people with gun who can pull them out will confuse
the responsive officers. They'll have to distinguish between who
is the original person who perhaps had a gun for a bad purpose
and who are all the other people.)
But Sen. Rick Murphy said this kind of situation could as easily
occur in a mall or on the street, where there are no such limits
on who can have weapons. Yet he said police don't seem to have
that problem. Murphy also told Daykin that it's misleading to
call college campuses gun-free zones.
(Some people have a false sense of security that because guns
aren't allowed that there aren't any, and the bad guys don't have
them. But the reality is the bad guys are the only ones that have
them, other than perhaps your officers.
Monday's 5-3 vote sends the legislation to the full Senate. For
Arizona Public Radio this is Howard Fischer.