Other articles by Howard Fischer:

AZ might get $210M a year from traffic eyes Playground-injury suit tossed Court: Conspiracy charges for smuggled entrants OK Payments to firm hired for photo traffic tickets will rise if more pay up Napolitano again opposes legislators' raise Goddard bars use of House surplus for school vouchers Gov. gets nationwide Obama role ACLU revises suit against Arpaio TGI Thursday?: State mulls four-day workweek Small-biz owners like Goddard in '10 governor's election

Administrative & Professional
Tucson Symphony
House Manager Education
Flowing Wells Schools
Spanish Teacher/High School Mechanical
Pioneer Landscaping
Diesel Fleet Mechanic Finance and Accounting
SENIOR CONTROLLER Driver/Transportation
CPC Southwest Materials
Drivers Trades/Construction
Webb Equipment Company
Laborers Administrative & Professional
Pinal County
Director I - Network Development

PHOENIX — Arizona voters may get a chance to do something that Gov. Janet Napolitano would not: limit her power to take away their guns or limit their rights to carry guns during an emergency.

On a 4-2 party-line vote, the Republican-controlled Senate Government Committee approved a measure Tuesday that would legally bar any governor from using a state of emergency to place new restrictions on the possession, transfer, sales, carrying, storage, display or use of firearms or ammunition. The bill also would remove any ability to commandeer and use weapons or ammunition during any state of war.

It now goes to the full Senate. If it passes there, and also gains House approval, it goes on the November ballot, bypassing Napolitano.

The proposal is a carbon copy of legislation approved earlier this year but vetoed, with the governor calling it both unnecessary and overly restrictive.

On one hand, Napolitano said she has no intent of ever taking away someone's firearms, even during an emergency. But the governor said she fears new restrictions might be overly broad, potentially preventing her from ordering live ammunition removed from the path of a fire.

But Sen. Dean Martin, R-Phoenix, said that excuse does not wash.

He said the measure does not restrict any existing laws or regulations, regulations he said include the power to protect public safety by moving ammunition. What it does do, he said, is block a governor from unilaterally imposing new restrictions that have not been approved by the Legislature.

The measure had broad support when it was originally considered. It gained Senate approval on a 25-3 vote, with the House ratifying it 45-12 — both margins large enough for an override.

But when the governor vetoed it, some Senate Democrats who supported it the first time changed their minds, leaving lawmakers without the necessary two-thirds margin.

"I'm not willing to override the governor on this one," said Sen. Robert Cannell, D-Yuma, one of those who switched his vote. Only Sen. Marsha Arzberger, D-Willcox, ignored party loyalty and agreed to override the Democratic governor.