From this article it sounds like Mesa Mayor Scott Smith, Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton, Chandler Mayor Jay Tibshraeny and Tempe Mayor Mark Mitchell are gun grabbers who want to flush the Second Amendment down the toilet!!!
Of course they all say they support the Second Amendment and then follow it with a BUT clause which means they are gun grabbers.
Source
Southeast Valley mayors cautiously tuned to debate on guns
By Maria Polletta The Republic | azcentral.com Fri Jan 25, 2013 8:50 AM
Mesa Mayor Scott Smith, a former National Rifle Association member and a gun owner for most of his life, took safety classes from the NRA as a youngster and later put his children through the same program.
Chandler Mayor Jay Tibshraeny is not and has never been a member of the NRA.
Though their personal histories with guns differ, all Southeast Valley mayors have adopted a measured approach when it comes to the public gun debate sparked in the wake of the Newtown, Conn., school shooting. They say they’re following the federal conversation closely, offering starting-point suggestions in the meantime rather than definitive solutions.
Most have held off on membership in gun-control organizations. Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton was the only Valley mayor in the Mayors Against Illegal Guns coalition, for example, until Tempe Mayor Mark Mitchell recently joined.
“There’s just a lot of dialogue right now, and it’s hard to bring it all together,” said Gilbert Mayor John Lewis, who is not a member of the NRA.
Lewis said he prefers to wait and weigh in on specific legislation rather than sign on to efforts like the mayors’ initiative or other groups.
Last year, for example, Lewis said he opposed a bill that would have allowed guns on university campuses and used his connections at the state level to voice his opinion.
“I think that’s the approach I’ll take, as the ideas and thoughts are starting to come more on the basis of what the proposals are,” he said.
Smith said he refuses to “jump on the gun-control bandwagon,” lamenting the U.S. tendency to seek knee-jerk solutions after major crises such as 9/11 and recent financial scandals.
“To me, it’s not a sound-bite issue,” he said.
Smith believes that there must be some way to keep guns out of the hands of the wrong people and has said he is open to the idea of closing background-check loopholes. He says there should be stern punishments for what he called poor stewardship with guns, such as allowing them to fall into the hands of children.
Smith also said the law has a legitimate role in forbidding the willful sale of guns to criminals and in forbidding “straw buyers” who would channel weapons inappropriately.
But overall, he said, gun violence is “a complex issue that involves a culture of violence, involves society, involves mental health.” In particular, he says that the country is devoting inadequate resources to mental-health issues.
“I believe we should strengthen our gun laws,” Smith said.
But whatever is done must be within the context of the Second Amendment, which the courts have ruled confers the right to individual gun ownership.
“I don’t think someone who is an honest person who owns guns legally should have their rights infringed,” he said.
Tibshraeny said he believes in Second Amendment rights, “but I also believe in making sure our citizens can live a full and productive and safe life.”
“We need a legitimate debate without people being so entrenched that you can’t have any meaningful dialogue,” he said. “That’s what I’m going to be looking for as we move forward.”
Tibshraeny echoed Smith’s mental-health-related concerns, saying, “A lot of these folks that have done this (mass shootings) are seriously mentally disturbed” and mental-health-care funding is “a factor that I look at on this issue.”
“At the state level, better reporting of mental-health records would be good,” he said. “We’ve got folks that are unstable and applying to get guns. A lot of their health history is on record, and it needs to go into a database that is checked as they’re applying.”
Tibshraeny said Chandler has been focusing on doing what it can at the local level, with public-safety officials sitting down to talk safety policies and procedures with Chandler schools.
Mitchell also has experience with local efforts to combat gun violence, an issue thrust into the Tempe spotlight last year when a March shooting at a club during a rap concert injured 16 people.
“First and foremost, for any elected official, the public safety and well-being of our residents is at the forefront,” he said. “Whether it’s working with the police chief and Police Department to make sure they have the necessary resources, it’s important that we work together collaboratively for the public safety of children as well as adults.”
Mitchell, who is not an NRA member, said he considered joining the Mayors Against Illegal Guns coalition a responsible decision, but he declined to say whether he would support additional gun restrictions, including an assault-weapons ban.
He said he would need to further research a sweeping package of federal gun-control measures proposed by President Barack Obama, as well as similar policies to limit gun violence recently approved in New York, before making a decision.
“That’s something I need to look at,” he said.
Republic reporters Gary Nelson, Parker Leavitt, Dianna Náñez and Erin Kelly contributed to this article.