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Let's all pause and be grateful we have a level-headed governor, a woman with the courage to refuse to pander to the powerful gun lobby.

The Arizona Legislature this year entertained quite a few alarming — if not positively fearsome — ideas for allowing guns into more places under fewer restrictions. In some cases, lawmakers themselves put down bad bills; in five cases, the governor stepped in with an emphatic veto.

We cleave to this basic principal: While we Americans enjoy a Second Amendment right to bear arms, the Constitution doesn't give us carte blanche to carry them with us anywhere, hidden or not. Gun advocates, including the National Rifle Association, tend to argue for fewer restrictions.

In Arizona, even if you have obtained a concealed-weapon permit, there are places you cannot carry a weapon. We believe these restrictions are positive and necessary to public safety. Thus our gratitude to Gov. Janet Napolitano and to clear-thinking lawmakers.

A review:

● A bill that would have permitted patrons to carry guns into restaurants that serve liquor died before it got to the governor. Thanks anyway, Miss Kitty, but out here in the Wild West we don't want to scurry away from shootouts in the Long Branch Saloon anymore.

● Another bill would have permitted weapons on college campuses under the contorted logic that more guns in the hands of more people — many of them immature and in the throes of testosterone poisoning — would make campuses safer. Mercifully, the proposal died.

● The governor vetoed legislation Monday that would have allowed Arizonans without concealed-weapons permits to carry loaded guns anywhere in their vehicles.

Napolitano said the bill "would have added to the level of uncertainty and danger law-enforcement officers who make traffic stops already face in the line of duty."

● Napolitano also vetoed a bill that would have barred police from charging people with illegally carrying a concealed weapon if any portion of the gun were visible.

"Common sense tells us that exposure of a small corner of a gun handle is insufficient to give reasonable notice to the public or law enforcement that a person is armed," the governor wrote.

● Earlier, the governor vetoed a bill to reduce the penalty for carrying a concealed weapon without a permit to a fine rather than jail time.

● She also vetoed a bill to allow those with concealed-weapon permits to opt for lifetime registration.

● And the governor vetoed a measure to let those who believe they are threatened unholster a gun without being charged with a crime.

The governor's vetoes will have an impact on her electability down the road, though how significant it will be remains to be seen.

Todd Rathner, a Tucson resident and NRA board member, told Capital Media Services' Howard Fischer that if Napolitano decides to run for the U.S. Senate or some other post when her gubernatorial term ends in 2010, she will get a rating from the NRA far below the C-minus she earned prior to her 2006 re-election — most likely an F.

We give her an A, for keeping in mind the delicate balance between our right to bear arms and our right to regulate their use in order to maximize our safety.