Gun Safety At Center Of Arizona Gov. Ducey's Run For 2nd Term

By Holliday Moore
Howard Fischer, Capitol Media Services
Published: Tuesday, June 19, 2018 - 10:09am

With his official announcement to run for a second term as Arizona governor, Doug Ducey launched into his first "if-elected" promise to get guns out of potentially dangerous hands.

Gov. Ducey also claimed he needs a second term to complete his first election promise of tax reform.

But, it's his plan to let judges take away weapons that is setting up a showdown between him and his Republican gubernatorial opponent, former Secretary of State Ken Bennett.

"The best way to stop a bad guy with a gun is one or more good guys that have a gun," Bennett announced on Monday as he laid out his idea for safer schools.

"That's what we should be focusing on to address these worst-case scenarios where you've got a crazed shooter shooting up a school," he said.

Ducey, however, said he wants to revisit his Severe Threat Orders of Protection proposal that lost support in the legislature last session.

"When I look at what happened in Florida, Kentucky, Texas and other instances, I want our law enforcement leaders and our mental health professionals to have a tool where they can be proactive in a dangerous situation," he said.

Bennett is choosing to run with public dollars this election cycle, capping his total donations well below a million dollars at $839,704.

Ducey has already collected more than $3 million for his campaign through private donations.