Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey signed a gun rights law this week that preemptively protects gun owners in the state from any federal gun control laws that are passed, according to reports.
The Second Amendment Freedom Act was signed two days before President Biden announced several executive actions, including asking the Justice Department to propose a rule to stop “ghost guns,” which are “kits” people can buy legally, then assemble to create a functioning firearm without a serial number.
“That was a proactive law for what is possible to come out of the Biden administration,” Ducey told KTAR-FM radio in Glendale, Ariz., on Wednesday, adding the bill doesn’t change any current laws.
State Rep. Leo Biasiucci, a Republican who sponsored the bill, said, “If the federal government does anything that tries to infringe on our Second Amendment in the state of Arizona, we’re not going to comply,” FOX 10 in Phoenix reported.
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He added that he was elected to “protect our Constitution,” saying the Biden administration wanted to “ban AR-15s, high-capacity magazines, and we don’t think that’s right. Our Arizona gun laws are strong and we believe that law-abiding gun owners have the right to bear arms.”
Supporters of March for Our Lives, the gun control advocacy group started by the survivors of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Florida, say the new Arizona law eliminates any chance for a discussion around gun reform.
“We are opposed to it because it takes any option off the table,” the group’s political co-director, Maya Zuckerberg, said, according to FOX 10. “It makes it so that any laws that are passed by the federal government about gun safety are not enforceable in Arizona. It eliminates any conversation around it and makes it a more dangerous place in Arizona.”
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Biden in his announcement Thursday also said he plans to ask the Justice Department to propose a rule on braces used for handguns, which make them more accurate, take action on “community violence intervention,” publish suggestions for “red flag” legislation and have his administration issue a report on gun trafficking.
He said none of his recommendations “impinges on the Second Amendment.”
Fox News’ Brooke Singman contributed to this report.