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Ducey criticizes Brown's comments on AZ gun laws

Posted at 8:07 AM, Dec 07, 2015
and last updated 2015-12-07 10:07:44-05

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey is criticizing comments made by California Gov. Jerry Brown about other states' gun laws after the deadly shooting in San Bernardino.

The Los Angeles Times reports Brown said Nevada and Arizona's looser gun laws are "a gigantic backdoor through which any terrorist can walk."

The Democratic governor was responding to some California lawmakers' call for tightening the state's already strict gun laws. Brown has been skeptical about that in the past, but said he would take a look.

Ducey on Saturday evening issued a statement saying Brown was politicizing the tragedy.

The Republican said, "All of Arizona mourns for the victims in California. Not only will we be ignoring Gov. Brown's advice, but I call on him to retract his incredibly thoughtless and ill-advised comments."

Local author and gun law expert Alan Korwin said Gov. Ducey is right.

"This was Muslim jihads attacking a Christmas party," said Korwin. "Batching this in with spree murders by crazy people is incorrect and it misleads the public."

Nobody is disputing that Arizona's gun laws are not as strict as other states. That fact is touted by magazine Guns and Ammo.  It ranks the state number one for gun owners. 

"We have the most gun freedom and the tightest gun laws for criminals in America," said Korwin. "California by comparison has the worst gun laws, treats their citizens the worst and even with that, the jihadis were able to buy guns legally and murder people."

But on the flip side, the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence gave Arizona an 'F' for 2014 because, among other reasons,  Arizona does not require a background check for private party sales nor impose a waiting period on gun sales.

The FBI said the handguns used in the rampage were purchased legally by Syed Farook.  Authorities still looking in to how they obtained the military style rifles.