Don't Let Your Donkey Fall Asleep in the Bathtub

Arizona became a state in 1912. In 1881 Tombstone, Arizona, then a territory had a ruffer firearm Ordinance than the State of Arizona has now.  Check all firearms, dirks and bowie knives at the Sheriff's office. 

Being a liberal socially, and conservative fiscally it’s almost embarrassing to be an Arizonan right now with fences on borders, producing papers to show citizenship and archaic gun laws.  Oh Wait. The immigration law had it’s teeth taken out of it making it quite clear that racial profiling will not be tolerated; law enforcement can’t just walk up to someone and ask for papers but can verify citizenship during ‘lawful contact.’  So things are pretty much status quo. California has pretty much the same law on it’s books and no one is boycotting them, of course they have Disneyland. Who would want to boycott summer vacation? Arizona still is not building a fence on the border nor is there a law to do so, though the argument rages on and I’m on the side of no fence, but there is an argument in every single border State and they need a lot more help over there near San Diego and Tijuana. (I’ll get into the over reaction to Mexico in another blog.) That leaves Jan Brewer and the signing a bill that legalizes carrying concealed weapons without a permit. Idiocy, but I doubt it will change crime in Arizona. One carrying a weapon unconcealed is legal! So what gives? We have always had more loose firearm laws and stats show it makes for higher crime. Period. 

My parents, rather my father moved us to Arizona after shoveling snow one winter too many in Wisconsin when I was 15 in 1975; a young 15 year old Catholic innocent (for real...seriously.) I was totally fascinated by the gun on the guys hip when we went to a restaurant with a floor covered in saw-dust to meet with family already pioneering out here in the west. I kept nudging my dad to look at the guy at the bar. Now just think back for a moment and consider: A 15 year old girl in a bar in which there were more than one gun on hips of drinking men (did I mention 1975?) and people smoking cigarettes (did I mention sawdust on the floor?) and adults busy drinking beer and kids left to their own devices. ????   

Which brings me nicely to: You can’t legislate mental illness. Oh Wait. Wrong again. Under Arizona law, prohibited possessor are defined in ARS 13-3101 which states any person: Who has been found to constitute a danger to himself or to others or to be persistently or acutely disabled or gravely disabled pursuant to court order under section 36-540, and whose right to possess a firearm has not been restored pursuant to section 13-925.

So once again the problem isn’t with the legislation or needing more legislation, it’s with the enforcement of said legislation.

Here is one of those crazy laws on the books: In Tombstone, Arizona a man or woman cannot smile if more than one missing tooth is visible.  Also there is one about not letting your donkey fall asleep in the bathtub. 

So the moral of the story is you can carry a gun in Arizona if you aren’t crazy, but don’t smile about it if you need dental work. And don't let your donkey fall asleep in the bathtub.