Leo Biasiucci, the Republican whip in the Arizona House of Representatives, told The Epoch Times’ “Crossroads” that the State House just passed a bill not to comply with any federal gun-restricting measures, and the bill will hopefully pass in the State Senate and be signed into law by the governor.
Biasiucci introduced a bill, HB 2111, which can be cited as the “Second Amendment Firearm Freedom Act.” The Arizona House of Representatives passed the bill on Feb 24 along party lines, 31–29.
“We’re Second Amendment friendly. We love our law-abiding citizens, gun owners,” Biasiucci said. “So I have a bill HB 2111 … it’s very simple. It says if the federal government changes anything at the federal level, Arizona is not gonna play. We’re not going to use money. We’re not gonna use resources to comply—if they ban AR-15 and they try to come in and start arresting people. Not gonna happen in our state.”
“The courts won’t even mess with it, our law enforcement won’t mess around.”
He indicated that they are doing what then-Gov. Jerry Brown did in California.
In 2017 California passed California Values Act—normally known as “sanctuary law”—to prohibit state and local law enforcement officials from cooperating with federal immigration officials.
“It said if ICE comes in and tried to detain illegals, we’re not going to help. We’re not going to use resources,” Biasiucci said. “Then it got upheld in court.”
The federal government sued California in 2018 for the sanctuary law, but a District Judge dismissed it. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit upheld the district court’s decision, stating California has the right “to refrain from assisting with federal efforts.” The Supreme Court declined to hear the federal government’s petition in June 2020.
“So I said if that’s gonna be upheld, let’s use the same kind of language, but apply it to the Constitution, right to apply it to our Second Amendment,” Biasiucci said.
Biasiucci said it’s “really concerning” that President Joe Biden made some comments on gun controls from day one and could possibly change laws with “a stroke of a pen.”
“This is why we got ahead of the ballgame,” Biasiucci said. He indicated the bill has a good chance to pass in the state Senate since Republicans have a two-seat lead there.
“If it goes to the governor, I don’t see how he doesn’t sign this thing,” Biasiucci continued. “So hopefully, we'll know in about a couple of weeks there.”
Biasiucci went on to say, “it’s so ridiculous” that some Democrats are pushing for measures to hold gun manufacturers accountable.
He stated that he firmly believes the problem is not the gun, it’s the person behind the gun.
“You look at Chicago, you look at even countries that have strict gun laws, and they have the highest [rate of] crime out of anybody,” Biasiucci continued.
“If you get in a car accident, they don’t sue Ford if you’re drunk behind the wheel and you cause the problem. They’re going after the guy who’s behind the wheel. So this is the same exact situation.”
Biasiucci suggested gun manufacturers could move to Arizona to get “great protection.”
“I ask all these gun manufacturers come to Arizona. We got low taxes. We’re trying to drop our income tax again this year. We’re gonna try to move it to a flat tax. We have a lot of land, business-friendly. We’re open for business. So I tell everybody: hey, come to Arizona, the land of the free over there, the last frontier.”
“We want to make sure you get out there and fight to keep this country alive,” Biasiucci added. “I do not want to turn socialist, and I don’t want to turn into a Venezuela or any of these other countries. We’re a republic, and I'll never stop fighting for that, and same with my colleagues.”
