The genesis of House Bill 2563 was a desire to bring Arizona into line with federal standards on when people diagnosed with mental illness could petition to get their gun rights back. The language of the Arizona statute was not in compliance and needed to be updated before the Arizona Criminal Justice Commission, a quasigovernmental law-enforcement agency, could get a federal grant to work with the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS).
When the bill appeared, however, it included language that would have lowered the standard for allowing people diagnosed with mental illness to get their gun rights restored. In short, it required that individuals show the court “a preponderance of evidence” that they should get back their gun rights, rather than the current “clear and convincing evidence” – which is seen as a higher bar. The commission withdrew its support.
After much behind-the-scenes negotiations with lawmakers and the National Rifle Association, HB 2563 was scrapped and the new, current bill, House Bill 2645, restored the higher threshold of “clear and convincing evidence.” HB 2645 has the support of the commission.
