The House will soon vote on a bill to allow college faculty and students to carry and possess firearms on campus property. The bill, HB2447, would only require that faculty and students submit notification to their administration that they are armed and possess a concealed carry permit. In the state of Arizona, individuals must be 21 or older to receive a valid concealed carry permit, or 19 and older for active military and veterans. The bill would extend to all higher education campuses — community colleges as well as four-year colleges and universities — and require them to adopt guidelines for firearm usage during an active shooter situation.
The House Rules Committee passed the bill on Monday. The House Judiciary Committee passed the bill last month along party lines, 6-4.
While House Judiciary Committee Republicans viewed the bill as a further defense of Second Amendment rights and increased, committee Democrats conveyed concern that allowing more guns on campuses would decrease safety. The bill sponsor, State Representative Quang Nguyen (R-Prescott Valley), cited how Texas passed a bill ensuring the same rights in 2016, SB11. Nguyen serves as the Arizona Rifle and Pistol Association president currently and is a certified CCW instructor, firearms safety instructor, rifle coach, and previously a state director for a junior rifle team overseeing competitors aged 12 to 20.
Arizona State University (ASU) Police Chief Michael Thompson insisted that college students lack the maturity to carry a firearm. Thompson said that students should leave it up to the professionals on campus: law enforcement and security.
“The notion that a CCW training is going to prevent some kind of mass shooting on campus is a fantasy,” said Thompson. “They are still in a very developmental stage in their lives, and they tend to not think through consequences and have issues with their actions at many occasions. It’s increasing and adding a risk to a campus that’s not necessary.”
Chairman Walt Blackman (R-Snowflake) explained that while in the military he oversaw platoons of hundreds of young men in the very age bracket that Thompson criticized: 18 to 23 years old. Blackman said that, based on his experience, he disagreed with Thompson’s assessment that college students
Thompson rebutted that the 18 to 23 years old in the military are soldiers “with training and supervision,” whereas those in college would be “intoxicated” and “in their dorm room, showing off rifles and handling pistols.”
Nguyen’s subsequent line of questioning prompted a heated exchange between the legislator and Thompson.
Nguyen responded that Thompson’s characterization of ASU’s climate made the case for necessitating concealed carry. He added that young adults may vote and even be drafted to serve in the military at 18, and cited his own daughter as an example, who finished six weeks of boot camp before turning 18 and received a firearm as part of her assignment.
“You kind of scare me when you start talking about kids drinking and doing drugs and being irresponsible. You just made a case for me to not send my kids to ASU,” said Nguyen. “Or you’re making the case for me that if I send my 21-year-old daughter to ASU, she should be armed to protect herself from all the drugs and the drug users on campus.”
Thompson said that his issue wasn’t with concealed carry generally, but with the ability for any states’ concealed carry permit to be permissible for use on college campuses. Nguyen questioned Thompson why concealed carry permits existed at all if those permits were questionable, or why Arizona allows reciprocity.
Minority Whip Domingo DeGrazia (D-Tucson) expressed concern that concealed carry permits may be obtained through an online course and a 15-minute interview with an instructor.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
Following the ambush of five Phoenix Police Department (PPD) officers during a hostage call, Councilwoman Ann O’Brien issued a memo requesting that her fellow councilmembers and Mayor Kate Gallego move to purchase drones for PPD. O’Brien explained that drones were needed during the ambush to mitigate the crisis, but that PPD didn’t have any.
I’ve just delivered a copy of this memo to every council office and the Mayor. It’s time for my fellow council members to show their support for our police and put their words into action! pic.twitter.com/tJCh9MIlMd
As of press time, O’Brien’s request for drones wasn’t included among the agenda items for Wednesday’s council meeting.
News of the attack on the officers made headlines internationally. As of Sunday, two of the five officers shot directly remained hospitalized. Another four officers were wounded from the shooting ambush indirectly. A total of nine officers were injured.
A little more than 48 hours after Friday morning's events, another officer has been released from the hospital. 2 officers remain hospitalized. We are so thankful for all of the medical staff who have helped our officers begin their journey of healing.#PHXPDStrongpic.twitter.com/AQdoEtg3Vw
The ambush took place on Friday morning around 2 am. The shooter, Morris Richard Jones III, fatally shot his ex-girlfriend, Shatifah Lobley, then shot at police as they attempted to rescue a one-month-old baby girl left on the outside doorstep of the home where the shooting occurred. The baby was unharmed.
PPD Chief Jeri Williams said Jones’ attack “makes no sense” to her during a press conference later that day, and expressed dismay that these types of crimes happen “over and over again.” Williams said that this latest ambush was part of a greater pattern of intentional violence against police.
“This is senseless, it makes no sense. I’m trying to make rhyme and reason of this,” said Williams. “This violence has no place in our city, but it continues to happen over and over again in our city and in our country.”
Per court records, Jones was a career criminal who once went by a gang alias “Petey Gunn,” most recently released from his five-month prison sentence for conspiring to turn a profit smuggling illegal immigrants across the border in 2020. Lobley assisted Jones in the smuggling and was charged with a misdemeanor amounting to $10 in fines and time served. Jones received three years’ probation for that crime originally; however, a judge revoked his probation after he punched his ex-girlfriend in the face and stole her gun while using marijuana and cocaine — the same woman he shot and killed last Friday. Years prior to his human trafficking excursion, Jones was a Oklahoma street gang member: the Hoover Crips, located in Tulsa. After one year imprisoned for stealing a car in 2004, Jones spent seven years in prison for involvement in drug trafficking and illegal firearm possession as a felon in 2006.
That latter crime was discovered by Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) Special Agent Josh Petree who was investigating criminal street gangs in the area. At the time of Jones’ conviction for possessing the firearm illegally, Jones had five outstanding misdemeanor warrants for his arrest and was heading to a location to purchase crack cocaine to sell.
After his release on probation in 2014, Jones recommenced his previous lifestyle and would alternate between prison and probation. In 2016, Jones received another sentence of four years before receiving an early release in 2019. It appeared that Jones decided to move to Arizona between his 2019 release and his 2020 arrest.
PPD will release body camera footage of the incident on February 25.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
The Senate Transportation and Technology Committee overwhelmingly voted against SB1134 in a 7-2 vote, a bill to eliminate the use of photo radar to capture speeding throughout the state with the exception of those in school zones.
State Senator Wendy Rogers (R-Flagstaff) introduced the bill; Chairman Tyler Pace (R-Mesa) introduced the striker amendment that modified the bill to exempt school crossings from its sweeping ban. Despite making the efforts to draft and submit an amendment, Pace made clear during the committee hearing that he was opposed to Rogers’ bill. Pace explained that he believed his amendment “didn’t go far enough” and voted against the bill after the rest of the committee cast their votes.
Several community leaders testified against the bill, explaining that it would not only undo a lot of good their constituents experience currently but would create an additional burden on their law enforcement. Paradise Valley Vice Mayor Anna Thomasson said the photo radars aren’t intended to collect more money from constituents, but are intended for safety purposes. She relayed that Chandler experienced a 50 percent reduction in collisions with the addition of photo radars.
“It’s about changing behavior,” insisted Thomasson.
A Paradise Valley police officer concurred with Thomasson’s statements, adding that the photo radar lifts a substantial burden off their department.
The senators that voted against the bill offered concerns that transcended party, relating to current burdens on officers, driver safety, and officer shortages.
State Senator Paul Boyer (R-Glendale) cited the worsening officer shortage that his county, Maricopa County, is experiencing currently. As AZ Free News reported in December, Phoenix Police Department (PPD) warned that they wouldn’t be able to respond to certain 911 calls if their numbers didn’t increase.
State Senator Lisa Otondo (D-Yuma) said she doesn’t need technical studies to explain to her why photo radar works; she said that merely witnessing them while driving was enough. Otondo indicated further that her appreciation for the mass amount of work law enforcement must do on a daily basis prevented her from voting in favor of this bill.
State Senator T.J. Shope (R-Phoenix) said that, unlike the state ban of photo radar on highways, he didn’t view this bill as addressing a statewide concern.
The striker amendment to SB1134 would prohibit any government agency from using photo radar to issue speed violations, except at school crossings. While we prefer the original version of SB1134 to ban photo radar altogether, the amendment is still a great step. We support SB1134 pic.twitter.com/xUfHmfgk2w
Of all that elected officials and bureaucrats took away these last two years of the pandemic, a loved one’s final “goodbyes” and “I love you’s” should’ve remained untouched. That much was made clear by Arizonans who came to testify in favor of SB1514, a bill to guarantee that patients have the right to visitation from a clergy member as well as two visitors at all times or their entire immediate family if health care providers determine that the patient will either die or lose consciousness within the next 24 hours. The bill would also prohibit health care institutions from preventing the patient from operating or possessing any communication device, and require them to pay damages of $20,000 and attorney’s fees and lawsuit costs per violation per patient.
Even with their testimonies, two senators voted against the bill in committee: State Senators Sally Ann Gonzales (D-Tucson) and Raquel Teran (D-Phoenix). The bill passed without their votes.
One man testifying in favor of the bill described how his 76-year-old father was hospitalized for mild flu-like symptoms out of caution. During his 17-day stay, the hospital prevented Kaiser or any other family members from visiting their father. Even after a doctor informed Kaiser that his father no longer had COVID-19, the hospital refused to allow visitation. Then, Kaiser recounted how his family received news suddenly that they would be permitted to see their father if they agreed to “comfort care” — when life support machines are turned off and drugs are administered to assist in a patient’s death. Kaiser noted that his father’s requests for certain treatments were denied, even the amount of vitamin C he was given: 500 milligrams, compared to the usual 1,000 when healthy and 2,000 to 3,000 when ill. The nurses told Kaiser that vitamin C wasn’t “protocol” and even health care administrators refused, rejecting Kaiser’s citations of medical studies with their own preferred studies. Kaiser noted that remdesivir, the protocol treatment, caused 60 percent of patients to experience adverse side effects like water in the lungs and organ damage. Only when they agreed to comfort care were they able to see their father. Kaiser said that the hospital’s treatment rendered his father’s physical condition “unrecognizable.”
“We learned that the same immutable adherence to protocol permeated all aspects of my father’s care. He had no effective agency [….] We were clearly beginning to see that each request was friction in a well-oiled assembly line. All requests were denied with similar responses, often followed by, ‘My hands are tied.’ While we were frequently in the care of very attentive and caring nurses, articulate and professional doctors, we quickly understood with each passing interaction that we as a family and my father as a patient had no agency in these walls. Gary had been relegated to a pre-defined and immutable protocol and felt very much like he was on a conveyor belt that, in the end, he was actually strapped to with physical restraints,” said the son. “I pray that my father won’t die in vain: that we will give patients and hospitals freedom of treatment and the ability to be with family and to die with dignity.”
One woman described how she and her husband promised each other to not take themselves or their children to the hospital because of what they’d heard — that people weren’t getting proper treatment and weren’t allowed visitors, even if they were dying. Their fears came true when her husband suffered severe pains that required an emergency room visit several weeks after having COVID-19. Nurses ignored the woman’s pleas to help her husband during his stay at the hospital, dismissing his complaints of pain — staff later determined after attempting a heart surgery that he suffered a heart attack three days earlier under their care. No staff noticed because nobody bothered to check his file. Yet, the woman recalled how staff jumped at the chance to ensure hospital policy was followed when it came to how many of their family could visit her husband shortly after his death.
“My husband was dead, my girls’ father just died, and I’m negotiating with these nurses over policies even they could not make sense of,” said the woman. “Who is being protected by these policies, by these protocols? Not my husband, not me. […] The doctors and nurses knew the medicine, but I knew the patient — better than they would. I knew his pain tolerance. I could’ve helped them. I could’ve alleviated some of their load while advocating for my husband, and he could still be here today.”
The woman’s daughter also testified. She explained that the denial of visitation wasn’t just inhumane — it was contrary to the known medical impact of human touch, which can induce recovery and instill a will to live.
“Why now are we taking away these important factors when people’s lives are on the line? When they, too, need an advocate and need loving touch and human connection to send messages to their brain that they’re safe, loved, and strong?” asked the daughter.
Another woman described how her husband of 39 years was admitted last month for COVID-19. Within weeks, her husband’s condition declined rapidly and she was denied visitation. At one point, she explained that her husband recovered — however, within a few days, something went awry with her husband’s treatment and he declined again. She wasn’t able to intervene with what went awry because visitation policy kept her away. The doctors finally allowed the woman and her family to come say goodbye during her husband’s final moments, but would only admit two of their group to go into her husband’s room.
“If we could have only seen him, would he still be here with us today?” asked the woman. “This is heartbreaking and it’s got to stop after two years of this. Please. Please pass this.”
Another woman described how her husband has been hospitalized since mid-October, but hospitals won’t allow her children to see him. She lamented that another of her family hospitalized for COVID-19, her mother, likely would’ve survived her hospital stay had the health care administrators allowed them to choose their own treatments.
State Senator Kelly Townsend lamented what society sacrificed to feel “safe” from COVID-19. Townsend expressed hope that God would have mercy on the many who were merciless.
“I have a hard time understanding the attitude of the hospitals who have seemingly abandoned all sense of ‘humankindness’ in the wake of COVID fear,” said Townsend. “They have violated ARS 36-1301 that says a person has a legal right to refuse service or choose the mode of health care by denying families and the patient any say in the management of care while in the hospital and at the end of life. Many are questioning the type of treatment received in the hospital, and have expressed fear to ever go back and trust their medical care to these hospitals. I must say, I do not blame them. We need a reassessment of who we are as Arizonans, as human beings. God forgive us.”
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
Over 200 Arizonans who identified themselves as educators have signed onto a pledge to teach Critical Race Theory (CRT) and all other social justice-oriented curriculum to children, regardless of the law or the wishes of parents. They conveyed a unified message: that they desired to teach the “truth” and the “true history” of this country’s history.
The pledge was created by the Zinn Education Project, a Washington, D.C.-based collaborative effort between Rethinking Schools and Teaching for Change. Prominent socialist and author of the anti-American exceptionalism book, “A People’s History of the United States,” Howard Zinn founded the project. Zinn propagated CRT concepts that America suffers from systemic racism, and that its imperialism and capitalism are evil. He also sparked controversy in topics previously associated with American pride by claiming Christopher Columbus was evil, President Abraham Lincoln was indifferent on slaves’ freedom, the Allies and Axis Powers weren’t much different, and that the Vietnam War wasn’t about communism.
The following includes those who signed onto the pledge as Arizona educators:
Avondale: Natalie Cardenas
Bisbee: Etta Kralovec
Black Canyon City: Matthew Schock
Casa Grande: Sharon Tuttle
Chandler: Amy Shinabarger, Angela Thomas, Ann Cicero, Audra Johnson, Beth Herbert, Deanna Celaya, James Wallace, Judith Simons, Julia Palazzi, Melanie Ohm, Rachel Kulik, Shasta Payne, Teri Moser
Flagstaff: Russell Randall, Ricardo Guthrie, Michelle Novelli, Angelina Castagno, Beth Sanborn, Derek Thibodeau, Elizabeth Merrill, Erin Hiebert, Joe Wegwert, Leslie Grabel, Patricia Roach, Sarah Shamah, Stacy Clark, Tami Butters, Yvonne Parent
Glendale: Erin Chisholm, Carlos Velazquez, Craig Lewis, Deanna Bakker, Electra Stafford, Galindo Jack, Jamie Prichard, Kari Vargas, Lisa Cantella, Maggie Malone, Melanie Cobos, Nick Friedman, Rachel Schmidt, Romy Griepp, Valerie Sun
Goodyear: Jill Helland, Catherine Barnett, Nikole Brasch, Susan Hennessy
Laveen: Miguel Ramirez, Nancy Schwartz
Litchfield Park: Melissa England
Mesa: Elisabeth Tanner, Marissa Felix, Quiana Washington, Robin Dodder, Andrea Box, Anica Erickson, Ann Marie Geair, Anne Greer, Christina Bustos, Christina Jameson, Claudia Bloom, Dave Medley, Jacqueline Tambone, Julie Quiroa, Kay Crittenden, Kelly Wright, Kisha Delgado, Michelle Lantz, Paul Kreutz, Quiana Washington, Rachael Clawson, Steve Munczek
Paradise Valley: Justin Brooks
Peoria: Paige DeHaan, Breanna Malmos, Chelsea Charlton, Kaitlin Griffin, Melissa Girmscheid, Stephanie Churchill, Tina Sanders
Phoenix: Karen Hawkes, Susannah Keita, Natasha Alston, Kareem Neal, Admaira Roman, Wilma Rice, Tom Moore, Kerrilee Wing, Sariah Winn, Nishta Mehra, Kelsey Knutson, Courtney Rath, Darcy Heath, Kelly Cutler, David Lee Carlson, Jay Barbuto, Nicolas Culley, Alexandra Zamarron, Alicia Messing, Carla Garcia, Claudia Chiang, Erika James, Ginette Rossi, Janel Vaughan, Judith Robbins, Kelley Gribuski, Kristin Cervantez, Lauren Gaston, Lauren Spenceley-Sheoran, Michelle Schulke, Mike Sarraino, Rodrigo Palacios-Tenorio, Roger Baker, Sarah Bennett, Shana Hornstein, Susan Rego, Tara La O’Garcia
“The thought of censoring the truth of our history in this country at this time in our nation is horrifying. I will not be silenced by frightened white supremist[s],” wrote Karen Hawkes of Phoenix. “We cannot heal and move forward without knowing and understanding the roots of our institutionalized racism.”
Queen Creek: Joanna Auclair
Sahuarita: Dawn Demps
Scottsdale: Louis Sugar, Carole Ancona, Jan Kelly, Kandice Nelson, Mariah Moritz
Sun City West: Harriet Luckman, Stacy Green
Surprise: Jon Alfred, Paula Auble
Tempe: Kelsey McAlarney, Sharon Hansen, Bernadette Lissner, Carol Johnson, Cortney Milanovich, Danielle Degain, Deanna Smith, Dylan Wince, Haylee Newton, Jacob Bley, Jo Anne Craig, Lawdon Haglund, Leslie Ringer, Maren Mueller, Valerie Craig
“All Americans deserve to know the truth about our racist, white supremacist history of violence against BIPOC. I should not have had to have been 66 years old before I confronted this history for the first time,” wrote Sharon Hanson of Tempe. “Although the sins of my forebears are not my personal sins, the current racist situation America IS my problem. America will never move forward until, like Germany, we hold up our ugly past, learn what actually happened (not some whitewashed version of the truth), and endeavor to make reckoning with it all.”
Tucson: Susan Whorley, Katie Vera, Arthur Almquist, Megan Carney, Isabella Porchas, Margaret Chaney, Amber Leeson-Curtis, Lee Foulkes, Peter Blankfield, Julie Elvick, Victoria Bodanyi, Meghan Hipple, Alyssa Cossey, Jenna Brito, Andrea Espinoza, Elizabeth Valenzuela, Jessica Williams, Kari Warner, Kati Gilson, Rita Verdin, Ryan Knst, Adrian Provenzano, Alexandra Mazur, Alison Climes, Ann Marie Palmer, Avis Judd, Barbara Wayne, Brieanne Buttner, Caryl Crowell, Chelsea Forer, Chris Parisoff, Corey Knox, Corina Ontiveros, Devon Holden, Edvina Velagic, Eric Donaghy, Farid Matuk, Jennifer Mullet, Jennifer Quigly, Carole Edelsky, Jessica Bernal Meija, Jim Byrne, Kate Van Roekel, Wes Oswald, Kevan Kiser-Chuc, Kristel Ann Foster, Linda Archuleta, Manuel Palacios-Fest, Mario Garcia, Natalie Taylor, Nataly Reed, Peter Blankfield, Rachael Eggebeen, Rebecca Kristensen, Sheila Wilenksy, Steven Ernsky, Tom McElhaney
“I will not let the white establishment silence me. I will continue to teach an accurate account of history,” wrote Jenna Brito of Tucson. “This includes teaching about how racism, sexism, xenophobia, etc is deeply embedded into our society and how it continues to shape out [sic] experiences.”
Vail: Drew Fellows
Yuma: Dorothy Higuera
At least one Arizona educator didn’t identify their city or town: Andrea Barrera.
It appears that these educators may have some level of support from the state. The Arizona Department of Education (ADE) encourages educators to pledge that they will teach social-emotional learning (SEL), which also propagates social justice concepts including CRT.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
