Misconduct Involving Weapons - revolver being held at a shooting range

Misconduct Involving Weapons in Arizona Part I: Understanding Terms

If you’re from Arizona, or have spent any amount of time here, you know that Arizona has a strong gun culture. None of us are surprised to see a fellow Arizonan with a gun at their hip. After all, Arizona was (and to many still is) the heart of the wild west. Arizona has relatively free gun laws like Concealed Carry, which states that a person over age 21 may legally carry a concealed firearm or deadly weapon, except in certain prohibited areas, without a permit within Arizona but must disclose that to an officer if asked. However, that doesn’t mean that if the gun laws in place are violated that you won’t be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

Gun charges can lead to serious legal problems–even if the charges are just minor misdemeanor misconduct involving weapons in Arizona. Needless to say, if you are facing felony gun charges like the use of a weapon in commission of a crime, the seriousness of that crime is amplified. For example, threatening or stalking someone is seen as much more serious if the one committing the crime is known to possess a weapon.

To understand weapon laws in Arizona, it is important to understand certain legal terms that define different types of firearms.

Deadly Weapons are any weapon created for lethal use which includes firearms.

Firearms are any gun (loaded or unloaded), shotgun, rifle, pistol or other device that is “designed to expel a projectile”.

Prohibited Weapons include (but aren’t limited to) grenades, short barrel shotguns, bombs, machine guns, rockets, nunchucks and poison gas . All prohibited weapons are completely illegal in Arizona.

Explosives are materials such as nitroglycerine, dynamite, plastic explosives and black powder.

In our next post we will delve into some of the penalties and laws that are related to misconduct involving weapons in Arizona. Contact Todd Coolidge immediately if you are facing weapons charges in Arizona.

*The information in this blog is for general information purposes only. This blog post should not be taken to constitute a formal recommendation or professional advice. We exclude all representations, warranties, legal liability or responsibility relating to its content.

Images used under creative commons license – commercial use (2/2/2017) Peretz Partensky  (Flickr)