by Corinne Murdock | Mar 18, 2024 | News
By Corinne Murdock |
State Rep. Quang Nguyen (R-LD01) advised Pima County that its latest firearms ordinance violates state law.
In a Tuesday letter to the county’s board of supervisors, Nguyen said the ordinance, which imposes reporting requirements and fines on gun owners related to loss or theft of a firearm, was “extremely troubling” since it amounted to regulatory authority only available to the state legislature per state law, supported by a 2017 Arizona Supreme Court ruling. Nguyen pointed out that a similar ordinance by the city of Tucson was determined unlawful by then-Attorney General Tom Horne in 2013.
“Another attempt to regulate firearms via an illegal ordinance by Pima County,” said Nguyen.
Nguyen also pointed out that the city of Phoenix’s ordinance regulating unclaimed firearms violated multiple state laws, per Attorney General Kris Mayes last September. Mayes affirmed the Arizona Supreme Court’s determination that firearms regulation remains a statewide concern.
Under Pima County’s new ordinance passed last week, gun owners face up to $1,000 in fines every time they fail to report lost or stolen firearms to police within two days. The board of supervisors passed the ordinance 4-1; only Supervisor Steve Christy voted against it.
In the ordinance, the board of supervisors justified its regulation by relaying that those prohibited from owning firearms have committed a significant number of the county’s firearm-related crimes with the help of straw purchasers. The board reasoned that the ordinance’s reporting requirements would help find and prosecute those straw purchasers.
“Reporting requirements assist with the apprehension and prosecution of straw purchasers, preventing or deterring them from claiming that a firearm they bought and transferred to a prohibited possessor was lost or taken in an unreported theft as well as preventing or deterring prohibited possessors from falsely claiming that their firearms were lost or stolen when law enforcement moves to remove them,” read the ordinance.
The ordinance originally proposed a $300 fine for each failure to report a lost or stolen firearm.
It was Pima County Attorney Laura Conover who suggested an increase in the fine amount to $1,000, in her letter of support to the board. Conover said that her office had handled over 100 cases involving firearms used by prohibited possessors last year, six of which were murder charges. Conover’s letter made no mention of the potential conflict between the ordinance and state law.
“Do we want law enforcement in Pima County to track down the origins of a firearm only after a crime has been committed, only to be told that the firearm was lost or stolen?” said Conover. “Or do we want to provide law enforcement with an opportunity to track down lost or stolen firearms before they land into the hands of prohibited possessors or, worse, the hands of young people or people with mental disabilities?”
The county further justified its ordinance by citing a 1998 Arizona Court of Appeals ruling in City of Tucson v. Rineer and a federal district court ruling on a California law in National Association for Gun Rights v. City of San Jose. Nguyen criticized the county’s justifications as irrelevant to their ordinance.
“Rineer analyzed the validity of a Tucson City Code provision that prohibited using or possessing firearms within Tucson city parks. Rineer also predates the Arizona Supreme Court’s 2017 opinion in City of Tucson,” said Nguyen. “It should go without saying that Arizonans expect county officials to enact laws that comply with Arizona laws, not California laws. Moreover, the ordinance that the federal court considered in the San Jose case did not impose any mandatory reporting requirements, fines, or penalties and bears no resemblance to the Ordinance here.”
Nguyen warned the county that “knowing and willful” violations of state firearm law incur a $50,000 penalty.
Pima County’s firearms ordinance takes effect in April.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
by Corinne Murdock | Aug 2, 2023 | Education, News
By Corinne Murdock |
High schoolers will learn from firsthand experiences of the evils of communism in a documentary series featuring two Arizona lawmakers who survived it.
The series, produced by the University of Arizona (UArizona) Center for the Philosophy of Freedom, features House Speaker Ben Toma (R-LD27) and Rep. Quang Nguyen (R-LD01) sharing their personal accounts of communism and their emigration to America. Toma escaped from Romania, and Nguyen escaped from Vietnam.
Nguyen praised UArizona for granting war survivors like him a platform to enlighten future generations.
The videos were created in response to the state legislature passage of a bill sponsored by Nguyen last year requiring high schools to incorporate a comparative discussion of political ideologies: the principles of communism and totalitarianism compared and contrasted with America’s founding principles.
Nguyen recounted how, a week before the Fall of Saigon, his father boarded him and his brother on an airplane with hundreds of other people. Nguyen was 12 years old at the time; his father advised the brothers that they wouldn’t see their family again. He and his brother were transported to Subic Bay, then Guam, then to Travis Airforce Base, Fort Pembleton, and finally Fort Chaffee.
However, Nguyen and his brother were able to reunite with his family in San Joaquin, California. Nguyen explained that he only ever experienced kindness among American military members, contrary to the narratives he heard that the U.S. forces had invaded his country. To this day, Nguyen says he visits with Vietnam veterans nationwide to thank them.
The representative shared that his quality of life in America was better than in Vietnam: he was able to get a strong college education and well-paying employment as a young man.
Nguyen explained that hallmarks of communism include government control of food source, specifically severely limiting the supply; control of education, specifically focusing on propagandizing children; and confiscation of weapons.
Toma’s video includes his mother and father, Ana and Cornel Toma. They recounted how the Romanian secret police labeled their family as an enemy to the government.
Ana recalled how government indoctrination in schools taught her and her peers false history, such as that the rest of the world loved and admired Romania as a great nation, when in fact she would later learn that few Americans knew of Romania’s existence. Ana also recalled waiting in lines for hours to obtain food, sometimes reaching the front without receiving the few rations available.
Cornel recalled how the government took away people’s cattle and land, only allowing them one cow and a half-acre of land. Those who dared speak out would “disappear overnight.” The government also didn’t allow people to have vocational freedom: similar to the military, the government assigned citizens their vocations and where they would live.
The Toma family was forced to flee Romania after the Secret Police began visiting them. They only managed to escape after a family friend convinced a member of the secret police to assist in smuggling them out of the country under the guise of a vacation: at that point, the Toma family wasn’t allowed to leave the country otherwise. Ana and Cornel were forced to escape first, then send for their children.
Ana and Cornel navigated the legal immigration process for admittance to the U.S., traveling across Turkey, Greece, Italy, and Rome over the course of about a year. Ana said that, upon first landing in America, she witnessed a novel display of patriotism and love for America that touched her deeply.
“I was so impressed that somebody love the country so much. I was impressed by the attitude they had on the flight. I thought, ‘This is the first taste of freedom,’” said Ana.
The Toma family settled in a two-bedroom apartment for their family of seven. Speaker Toma shared his delight in the abundance of America through the simple joy of eating oranges: something not possible in Romania. Ana and Cornel shared that they found work rather quickly.
In addition to Toma and Nguyen, the series will include Mesa Community College economics professor Sylwia Cavalcant, who fled Poland’s communism.
Freedom Center Director Mary Rigdon said that the series would serve to advise students of the realities of communism.
“The mini-documentaries powerfully demonstrate our commitment to inform current and future generations, consistent with the Center’s mission to be an intellectually diverse, inclusive, and nonpartisan resource for leaders and students seeking to address society’s significant challenges. We appreciate the opportunity to highlight the power of freedom in a democratic society,” said Rigdon.
Watch the documentary series here.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
by Corinne Murdock | Jun 28, 2021 | News
By Corinne Murdock |
During the House floor debate over the budget last week, State Representative Daniel Hernandez (D-Tucson) claimed that white nationalism poses a bigger threat than communism. In just over a century of its existence, the death toll of communism has reached over 100 million. State Representative Quang Nguyen (R-Prescott Valley), a survivor of Vietnam’s communist regime, fired back that Hernandez’s remarks ignored that death toll.
Hernandez made the claim that communism was a minimal threat when he rose to speak in opposition to the K-12 budget bill on Friday. The bill included the requirement that schools teach how political ideologies such as communism and totalitarianism conflict with America’s founding principles of freedom and democracy.
“So, we keep hearing about ‘the threat of communism, it is a great threat, it is such a bad thing.’ You know what’s a bigger threat?” said Hernandez. “White nationalism. The insurrection that happened on January 6. Those are bigger threats to our nation.”
Only one of five deaths that occurred on January 6 can be attributed to the rioters. The woman killed, Rosanne Boyland, was trampled to death by the mob. Another one of the deaths came from a Capitol Hill police officer that shot and killed a woman named Ashley Babbitt. Three of the other deaths occurred naturally; the remaining death was the result of a drug overdose.
“So, yes, let’s talk about communism,” continued Hernandez. “But let’s also talk about making sure that we are not letting people get away with the kinds of things that were happening on January 6, and teaching our kids that it’s okay to try and overthrow a democratically-elected government – with that, I vote nay.”
Cheers and clapping could be heard in the background as Hernandez ended his speech.
Nguyen fired back that Hernandez was taking the issue of communism lightly – mocking the experiences of him and other asylees, even, by suggesting that white nationalism was the bigger threat.
Nguyen sought political asylum at 12 years old from the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) in April 1975 – a week before the Fall of Saigon.
“I’m not a big talker,” said Nguyen. “And, you know, I stood back there and I listened to everybody, and I just got irritated so I came over here and pressed the white button. Is it okay if I say ‘white button?’”
Nguyen paused when his quip inspired laughter. He continued.
“You know, I just recently heard somebody say that […] communism is not the enemy, but white nationalism [is]. So, let me tell you something about white nationalism. White nationalism didn’t drown 250,000 Vietnamese in the South China sea. The communists did. White nationalism did not execute 86,000 South Vietnamese at the Fall of Saigon. Communists did. White nationalism did not put me here. Communism did. So don’t take it lightly. Don’t mock me. Don’t mock what I go through in life. It’s rough. I lost most of my cousins, my family members due to communism. If we don’t stand up to teach communism to our children, we’ll lose this country. So sir, don’t mock me.”
Corinne Murdock is a contributing reporter for AZ Free News. In her free time, she works on her books and podcasts. Follow her on Twitter, @CorinneMurdock or email tips to corinnejournalist@gmail.com
