A governor proposes gun reform. Unfortunately, it's not Arizona's

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee on Tuesday said he will sign an executive order aimed at strengthening background checks for gun purchases, and he called on his state’s Legislature to pass a red flag law to temporarily remove guns from dangerous people.

This, just a week after announcing plans to spend millions to harden security in Tennessee’s schools in the wake of the massacre of six innocents inside a Nashville elementary school.

“I’m asking the General Assembly to bring forward an order of protection law,” Lee told reporters on Tuesday. “A new, strong order of protection law will provide the broader population cover, safety, from those who are a danger to themselves or the population.”

Meanwhile, in Arizona … yeah, nothing.

Even Gov. Ducey called for a red flag law

Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs hasn’t taken or proposed any action in the wake of the recent mass shootings that continue to traumatize America, putting children and adults alike into far-too-early graves.

As for the Arizona Legislature, the Republicans who control the place are working hard on a package of “reforms” – including a bill that would remove gun silencers from a state list of prohibited weapons, allow parents to bring guns into schools and punish banks that don’t want to do business with the firearms industry.

Hobbs vetoed the silencer and bank bills.

The bring-your-gun-to-your-kid’s-school bill awaits a final vote in the House before it too gets an up-close-and-personal view of Hobbs’ infamous veto stamp.

But where are Hobbs’ proposals to tighten Arizona’s lax gun laws?

Even Republican Gov. Doug Ducey proposed a red flag law – allowing police or family to petition a judge to temporarily seize weapons from a person who may present a danger to himself or others – after the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., in 2018. (17 dead, 17 wounded).

He renewed that call in 2019, right around the time of the massacre at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas (23 dead, 22 injured). Or perhaps it was a few weeks later, around the time of the massacre in Dayton, Ohio (9 killed, 17 injured).

Ducey’s proposal was dead on arrival at the Legislature, so I imagine he gave up after Buffalo, N.Y. (10 killed, three wounded) and Uvalde, Texas (21 dead, including 19 children).

Democrats offer bills to curb gun violence

Every year, Democratic legislators offer reasonable bills aimed at curbing gun violence. They don’t even rate a hearing.

The Republicans are far too busy protecting children from drag queens and pronouns to possibly take on the nation’s leading cause of death in children and teens.

No other comparable country comes close, according to a KFF analysis.

On Monday, it was Louisville, Ky.’s turn for tragedy, though this gunman let loose inside his place of work (five dead, eight injured).

The Tennessee and Kentucky slaughters offer yet another chance for Arizona’s legislative leaders to exercise their Second Amendment right … to do absolutely nothing.

After shooting: Arizona school safety requirements vary widely

Just as they did more than a decade ago when two classrooms full of first graders were executed in Sandy Hook (26 dead, including 20 children) and when a movie theater full of Batman fans were mowed down (12 dead, 70 injured).

And when an Orlando, Fla., nightclub full of partygoers were gunned down (49 dead, 53 injured). And when country music fans in Las Vegas became sitting ducks for a madman armed with what amounted to a machine gun (58 dead, 413 injured – 867 if you count those hurt in the ensuing panic.)

Carnage is common. Yet GOP refuses to act

After Parkland and Uvalde and Nashville and too many others to even remember, so common is the carnage.

No requirements to strengthen background checks in Arizona. No state initiatives to try to better identify those with mental issues who should never be allowed access to guns.

No push to regulate the sale of high-capacity magazines or even to require the safe storage of weapons.

In the wake of tragedy, Tennessee’s governor is at long last doing something.

“This is our moment to lead and to give the people of Tennessee what they deserve,” Lee said on Tuesday.

I remember when it when it was Arizona’s moment to lead.

It was 2011 and a gunman outfitted with a high-capacity magazine had just turned a Safeway parking lot north of Tucson into a killing field (six dead, 13 injured, including then-Rep. Gabby Giffords).

That year, our leaders voted to honor the Colt Single Action Army Revolver, designating it the state’s official firearm.

Reach Roberts at laurie.roberts@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on Twitter at @LaurieRoberts.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Tennessee governor proposes gun reforms. Arizona's stays silent