Mohave County widens gun possession rights in northwestern Arizona

KINGMAN, Ariz. — Mohave County has been made the most weapon-permissive county in Arizona.

The Board of Supervisors voted Monday to further liberalize gun possession rights in county government facilities, partly in response to an electorate who support the Second Amendment and partly due to weapon restrictions imposed during the previous administration.

Monday’s vote by the new board, which was elected in January, allows both residents and employees to carry weapons in most county buildings, even in libraries. Exceptions will occur where elected officials occupy stand-alone facilities and choose to impose prohibitions.

For example, security and law enforcement officers can carry weapons at the courthouse and the Sheriff’s Office, but prohibitions are applied to others.

The board made provisions for other possible exceptions in the future. Weapon restrictions could be applied to buildings deemed “sensitive” by the county administrator, subject to board approval.

Julie Huelsbeck, the acting director for the county library district, said she and her staff believe libraries should remain weapon-free as they have for years.

“We have a lot of children in the buildings on a daily basis,” Huelsbeck told the board. “I feel that the atmosphere that we wish to present in our libraries would be (negatively) impacted by people carrying weapons.”

Huelsbeck said physical altercations have occurred in the county libraries, particularly in the public computer access areas. She fears that the presence of weapons could escalate the violence of those encounters.

Supervisor Steve Moss countered that Mohave County libraries should become weapon-permissive environments.

“I personally disapprove of the idea of a gun-free zone because all it does is keep the law-abiding citizen out of that zone and the guy who is going to break the law is the one who is going to cause the problem,” he said. “I have that exact same philosophy as applied to libraries.”

Board Chairman Gary Watson dissented in the 4-1 vote, citing liability concerns.