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Arizona committee backs bill to align juvenile record destruction and gun-rights restoration ages
Summary
A House public-safety committee voted to give House Bill 2378 a due-pass recommendation after sponsors said the measure would lower the age to regain firearm possession rights from 30 to 25 to match juvenile record-destruction rules and reduce barriers to employment and education.
A House Special Committee on Public Safety and Law Enforcement on Feb. 18 gave House Bill 2378 a due-pass recommendation after sponsors said the bill would align the age for restoring firearm possession rights with the age at which juvenile records can be destroyed.
Representative Alma Hernandez, the bill sponsor, told the committee the measure would lower the minimum age to regain the right to possess a firearm from 30 to 25 for people convicted in juvenile court of certain serious offenses and would broaden conditions for restoring rights for other juvenile felony convictions. “It gives those individuals an opportunity to be able to succeed in life, be able to restore their civil rights,” Hernandez said.
Committee staff explained the statutory conflict the bill addresses. A staff member summarized that under current law many juvenile records can be destroyed no later than age 25, but gun-rights restoration remains at age 30; that mismatch, staff said, can lead judges to delay record destruction and leave young adults with lingering records that limit education and job access. Michelle Robbins, an attorney with the Pima County Public Defender’s Office and supervisor of its juvenile division, told the committee she has seen judges hesitate to destroy records while gun-rights statutes still set a later age. “There is an age disparity between when an individual can have their right to bear arms restored and when an individual can have their juvenile record destroyed,” Robbins said. She added: “This bill does not take away a judge’s discretion.”
Michael Rossi, appearing on behalf of Pima County, and Robbins said aligning the two ages would let courts implement the legislative intent behind juvenile record-destruction statutes and reduce barriers to employment, housing and education for people who have completed court-ordered requirements.
After brief public testimony from county and defense representatives, Vice Chair moved the due-pass recommendation. The committee adopted the motion on a roll call vote: 13 ayes, 0 nays, 0 present, 1 absent. The committee record shows the measure now advances with a due-pass recommendation.
The bill text as explained to the committee refers generally to the juvenile record-destruction statute and to restoration of firearm possession rights; staff and proponents did not cite a specific Arizona Revised Statutes section during testimony.
