Issue Gun Rights
THE ISSUE: To secure the right of self-defense, against both tyrannical government and individual criminals, we believe in the right to keep and bear arms. We oppose all laws restricting, regulating, or recording the ownership, manufacture, transfer, or sale of firearms or ammunition. We favor the repeal of all laws regulating or banning the means and methods of carrying any type of weapon, or prohibiting pocket weapons.
Arizona laws and the elected and appointed representatives charged with executing and obeying those laws are routinely violating the rights of Arizona citizens with regards to firearms. State employees are prohibited from carrying weapons onto state property while on state business or in state vehicles, regardless of the dangers they may be exposed to while on state business.
THE PRINCIPLE:: One corollary of the right to life is the right to defend life, by any and all means available. As such, we support the right to keep and bear arms as an extension of the individual right to protect the sanctity of human life, whether such defense is needed against tyrannical government or individual criminals. Therefore, we unequivocally support the right to keep and bear arms. We hold as unconstitutional and void all laws restricting the right to carry firearms, whether open or concealed.
Furthermore, in addition to the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution, Article II Section 26 of the Arizona Constitution specifically protects the right to keep and bear arms for individuals to defend their lives or the lives of others. Therefore, all laws which restrict the right to carry firearms (open or concealed) are unconstitutional under both the United States and Arizona Constitutions.
LIBERTARIAN SOLUTIONS: We oppose all laws requiring registration of firearms or ammunition. We oppose all laws restricting or recording the ownership, manufacture, transfer or sale of firearms or ammunition as well as those laws requiring maintenance of a firearm. We oppose mandatory waiting periods for the transfer of firearms. We further oppose any attempt to ban or restrict the use of other self-protection devices. We oppose the attempts to further regulate and prohibit the right to keep and bear arms by various levels of government. We support the repeal of all existing laws in conflict with these principles.
LIBERTARIAN ACTION/TRANSITION: We maintain that any elected or appointed official who advocates, introduces, sponsors, or votes for such laws - or has done so in the past - should be removed from office and prosecuted for violating his or her oath of office to uphold and defend the Constitution, as well as violating the natural, fundamental and unalienable human, individual, civil and Constitutional rights of the people of the United States and the State of Arizona.
We support certain bills proposed in the Arizona legislature as steps in the right direction. One example is the reduction of illegal concealed carry to a petty civil offense (presently it is a Class 1 misdemeanor punishable by a $2,500 fine and 6 months in jail). Another example is the repeal of the prohibition on carrying firearms into restaurants or other establishments with a liquor license, putting the decision making authority in the hands of the private property owners instead of the government. A third example is adding teeth to the requirement that all government buildings be required to "check" personal firearms ("check" means providing a secure storage location near the entrance to a building, such as a locker), or simply permit the carry of personal weapons, so that individuals will not be forced to walk potentially dangerous streets without the means of self-protection. A fourth example is the ongoing effort to establish reciprocal concealed-carry agreements with other states. Just as an Arizona driver's license is honored in any other state, so should an Arizona concealed-carry permit be honored in any other state.
The most common criticism to the libertarian position on this issue is "You make it easier for criminals to get guns." To this we respond that we are opposed to all initiation of force by criminals, and we call for a reform of the criminal justice system that would prohibit releasing violent felons who still pose a danger to the community.
