Giffords Law Center gives Arizona ‘F’ grade for gun laws

PHOENIX — A national law center gave Arizona the worst possible grade as part of its nationwide annual gun law scorecard.

The Giffords Law Center slapped Arizona with an ‘F’ grade for 2018, citing the fact the state didn’t pass any significant gun safety legislation as a main factor for its grade.

Arizona was one of 22 states to receive an ‘F’ grade.

“In order to raise its ‘F’ grade, the state should repeal its dangerous permitless concealed carry law and pass a law requiring background checks on all gun purchases,” the law center said about Arizona in the study.

“Arizona should also limit the number of firearms that may be purchased at one time and impose a waiting period on firearm sales.”

The center tracked and analyzed gun legislation in all 50 states and evaluated bills for their relative strength or weakness before ranking states by letter grade.

Arizona ranked No. 46 in gun law strength and No. 18 in gun deaths, the two main factors for the scorecard.

The state’s gun death rate of 15.7 per 100,000 people was above the national average of 11.9, according to the scorecard.

Arizona also received an ‘F’ grade in 2017.

The Giffords Law Center is a San Francisco-based nonprofit co-founded by former Arizona congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and her husband, U.S. Senate candidate Mark Kelly.

The center’s mission is to prevent gun violence.

Neighboring state California was one of just seven states to receive an ‘A’ grade.

“Year after year, our research yields the same conclusion — stronger gun safety laws lead to lower gun death rates,” the law center said.

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