(The Center Square) – Prescott area Republican Reps. Quang Nguyen and Selina Bliss are asking Attorney General Kris Mayes to investigate a Sedona firearms policy the duo argue is in violation of Arizona law and possibly the Second Amendment.
“The City of Sedona has had ample time to address these concerns and has chosen not to act,” Nguyen, who leads the House Judiciary Committee, said in a statement on Monday.
“We are left with no choice but to seek the Attorney General’s involvement to ensure the rule of law is followed,” he added.
The Center Square reported that the Republicans asked the northern Arizona city to look into how enforceable the ordinance is when it comes to the terminology of “trails” and “open space areas.”
“The Ordinance then exempts persons who possess a CCW permit. Yet since 2010, Arizona has allowed individuals who legally carry a weapon openly to also carry a concealed weapon without a permit, subject to some restrictions,” Nguyen wrote in a letter to the city’s mayor last month.
“Further, the Ordinance purports to regulate places other than parks and preserves (i.e., trails and “open space areas”- a broad, vague, and undefined phrase),” the lawmaker added.
Mayes will now have a month to determine whether or not Sedona’s ordinance violates state law and the United States constitution. In the letter, the two lawmakers disclaimed to drop the investigation if the law is repealed, but to take “special action” through the state Supreme Court if it turns about to be illegal.
The Center Square reached out to the city of Sedona, but they did not respond in time for publication.
