Answer:  Before I answer the question, let me reset the stage for readers that might not be familiar with my previous post.  In order to use any type of force in self defense, a person must be under a credible threat of force or a perpetrator must either use force or attempt to use force against you.  Words alone, no matter how nasty, provocative or threatening are not ever a justification for the use of force.

The level of force you can use against another must be reasonable and measured based on the circumstances of the threat.  The purpose of your use of force is to stop the threat or use of force against you.  Once the threat has ended, your use of force must end as well.  If you continue to use force in the absence of a threat, you run the risk of becoming the ‘aggressor’ and potentially turning the tables against yourself.

There are also many factors that can enter into the use of force equation.  These things generally fall under a concept called ‘Disparity of Force’.  Some of the factors that enter into a ‘disparity of force’ situation can include:

• Age - if there is a substantial age different between the victim and the perpetrator, additional force may be appropriate to provide a force multiplier to the disadvantaged person.  For example, a man in his 60’s might need to use additional force to effectively eliminate a threat from another man in his 30’s.
• Numbers - if there are multiple perpetrators that are threatening or using force against a single individual, then that individual might need to use an enhanced level of force to end the threat.
• Physical Disability - if the person being threatened is disabled to the extent that they cannot run away or effectively defend themselves against a threat, again, additional force may be appropriate to eliminate the threat.
• Size - if there is a significant size difference between a person being threatened and the person doing the threatening, that might be justification for using a higher level of force to end the threat.
• Sex - if a woman is being attacked by a man, regardless of the size or age of either party, the law generally permits a woman to use an enhanced level of force to defend herself, up to and including lethal force,  if she is in reasonable fear of sexual assault or serious injury.

Disparity of force issues are not limited to these factors alone.  Many other factors or combination of factors may come into play in the court making a determination of whether or not a particular use of force was justified or not.  You must understand that there is no ‘bright line’ here.  This is a gray area where the factors involved will be considered by a judge or jury in their determination of whether your actions were ‘reasonable’ in light of the circumstances and were appropriate to the level of threat experienced.

Now, to specifically answer your question.  If someone grabs you without your permission, you are being assaulted.  Simple assault in Arizona is defined as:

1. Intentionally, knowingly or recklessly causing any physical injury to another person; or
2. Intentionally placing another person in reasonable apprehension of imminent physical injury; or
3. Knowingly touching another person with the intent to injure, insult or provoke such person.

If someone commits assault under the conditions described under item 1, they are committing a Class 1 Misdemeanor which is punishable by a jail term of 6 months and a fine of up to $2,500.

If someone commits assault under the conditions described under item 2, they are committing a Class 2 Misdemeanor which is punishable by a jail term of 4 months and a fine of up to $750.

If someone commits assault under the conditions described under item 3, they are committing a Class 3 Misdemeanor which is punishable by a jail term of 30 days and a fine of up to $500.

You do have the right to defend yourself using a threat of force or physical force if necessary, but nothing you described would allow you to use anything greater than physical force unless you believed that you were in danger of serious injury, permanent disabling injury or death.  My guess is that people that do as you described are trying to intimidate you or are bullies that enjoy making other people afraid.

If you are not trained in some type of self-defense skill, any resistance on your part is likely to result in escalation which could result in potentially much more serious consequences for you.  You might want to consider carrying some non-lethal defensive device.  My choice would probably be a high quality pepper spray from either Fox Labs or ASP.  They make key chain devices that when deployed, can make it very unpleasant for your assailants.  Pepper spray will effectively disable an attacker for 30-45 minutes, giving you plenty of time to get to safety and call 911.

My first recommendation is to not put yourself in the situation if you can avoid it.  If possible, just remove yourself from the vicinity.  Get in your car and drive away or if you are on foot, walk or even run away if necessary.  I can’t begin to tell you the number of bad situations that result from men letting their testosterone dictate their actions in a confrontation.  You can also try to control your anger and de-escalate the situation.  I have used this technique with great success myself many times.

If you cannot leave and cannot de-escalate, do anything you can to attract the attention of any onlookers or witnesses.  Scream or call for help and get on your cell phone and call 911.  Tell them to send the police immediately and give your location.  If your attackers are bullies, they will probably not hang around for long.  If they don’t leave and continue to press the attack, this might be the time to consider using your pepper spray on them.

If they do attempt to harm you in any way and you know who they are, you should call the police and press assault charges.

One final note:  If at anytime you feel that you are in real danger of being seriously injured or killed, or the perpetrators have taken up a weapon or ‘dangerous instruments’ like a stick, bat, rock, bottle or anything similar, the simple assault has moved to an aggravated assault which is a felony.  At this point, unless you are armed, your primary objective should be to get away at all costs.  Even if you are injured while getting away, it is better than trying to fight your way out and be more seriously injured or killed.  Get to a place with lots of people and call 911.

I do feel a bit of an obligation to explain how pepper spray works and how to determine the strength of any spray you might consider purchasing.  This is important because there is some confusion about how hot a spray should be in order to insure that it is effective against a potential attacker.

First, let’s talk a little about the idea behind what is more properly called ‘OC Spray’.  The ‘OC’ stands for Oleoresin Capsicum.  OC is a strong irritant of any mucus membranes it comes in contact with.  The sensation generated by exposure to OC is one of severe burning of the affected tissues.  If sprayed in the eyes, it causes profuse tearing, burning, pain and can cause temporary blindness.  A friend of mine in law enforcement that has been sprayed with OC in training says that it feels like “drowning with your face on fire”.  Not a pleasant experience to say the least…

This experience of burning eyes, running nose, coughing and having difficulty breathing can continue for 30-45 minutes depending on the amount of spray used and it’s strength.  The strength of the spray not based on the percentage of active ingredient, but rather is based on the number of Scoville Heat Units or SHUs that the spray has.  Scoville Heat Units are a measure of ‘heat’ in peppers.  A mild jalapeno pepper might have a SHU rating of 1,000 to 1,500.  Tabasco might carry an SHU rating of 30,000 to 50,000.  The hottest pepper in the world, the habanero, carries an SHU rating of 300,000 to 500,000.  Compare those to the rating of popular pepper sprays which can range from 2 million SHUs to 5.3 million SHUs.  As you can see, these sprays are really hot.

As you have no doubt experienced, different individuals can have different levels of sensitivity to peppers.  My father-in-law can put incredible amounts of crushed red peppers on food.  What he relishes is completely inedible to me.  Similarly, some people will be less susceptible to pepper spray due to ‘conditioning’.

Since pepper spray is many times used by law enforcement and correctional officers against their ‘clients’.  Some of those individuals develop a higher tolerance to the effects of the spray.  While OC spray will always have some effect, even on a heavily conditioned individual, they may be able to continue to function if the strength of the spray is near the lower end of the range.

That is one of the reasons that I recommend a spray by Fox Labs.  The Fox Labs product is highly refined and the SHU rating for it tops out at 5.3 million SHUs.  It is the hottest OC spray available.  Even the most ‘conditioned’ criminals have a difficult time fighting through this stuff.  It is truly ‘wicked hot’ as my friend from the east coast would say.

If you plan to carry OC spray for personal defense, there are a few of things to think about on both the positive and negative sides:

1. It will do you no good if it is in the bottom of your purse, in your pocket or in your briefcase when you need it.  It needs to be accessible.
2. There is a high likelihood of ‘cross contamination’ if you use OC spray.  What I mean specifically is that you might be exposed to it when you spray someone else.  This is not something you want to be experiencing for the first time when you are in trouble.  I’m not saying that you should blast yourself in the face with it, but you might want to understand what you might have to deal with.
3. You cannot just ’spray’ someone without justification.  You need to be under threat of assault at a minimum to be justified in using OC spray.
4. You might also want to think before using OC spray in enclosed spaces.  Several people were killed during a panic to get out of  a Chicago dance club when a bouncer used OC spray on an unruly guest inside the club.

After considering all those things, you might ask yourself “Should I carry OC spray”?  Here is the answer for me:  one of my students probably prevented a robbery or worse by using pepper spray.  She had it in her hand when she was grabbed from behind at an ATM.  She sprayed the robber/rapist in the face and got away unharmed…

You can decide for yourself, but I don’t go anywhere without my OC spray…

Question: When shipping firearms to another Arizona resident do I have to send it to an FFL or can I ship it directly to the other resident? I assume since I can sell it without any paper work to another resident I can just ship it to him but cannot find any information on the subject.

Answer:  You can only transfer firearms between Arizona residents in a ‘face to face’ transaction.  You need to be able to inspect the I.D. of the person you are selling the firearm to so that you can insure a ‘legal’ transfer of the firearm.  The buyer must be at least 18 years old for either a long gun or a handgun.  They should also certify in writing that they are not a ‘prohibited possessor’ and can legally possess a firearm in Arizona.

I always recommend keeping a ‘Bill of Sale’ that includes the name and address of both the buyer and the seller and a complete description of the firearm being transferred, including the serial number.  This is also a great place to have language certifying that the buyer can legally own a firearm in Arizona.  The buyer should sign and date the document.

The ‘Bill of Sale’ gives you a permanent record of the transaction and can be a huge time saver if the firearm you sold is ever stolen or used in a crime and the police come asking questions…

If you can’t do a ‘face to face’ transfer, or if you are selling a firearm to a buyer that lives out of state, you need to ship the firearm to an FFL near where your buyer resides.  Usually the FFL charges a small fee to process the paperwork.  You should contact the FFL prior to shipping to them for instructions on how to ship the firearm to them.  

You cannot ship firearms via US Mail.  You will need to use either FedEx or UPS.  I’d recommend that you ship it overnight as their is less chance of someone ‘diverting’ the shipment if they suspect the contents (yes, valuable items sometimes get pilfered in transit).  I would also recommend that you insure the package for the replacement value of the item being shipped.  By the way, you should not ship any ammo with the firearm.

Once it arrives at the other end, the FFL will contact your buyer.  When they come in to pick up the gun, the buyer will need to complete ATF Form 4473 (Firearm Transfer Record) which will remain on file with the FFL.  They will also have to present government issued photo ID and a valid Arizona CCW permit or the dealer will have to run a background check prior to releasing the firearm to your buyer.  Assuming they have a CCW permit or a clear background check they will be good to go.  

You might want to clarify who pays the FFL transfer fee in advance so there is no confusion when it comes time to make the transfer.

The process I have described is pretty typical.  Different FFLs may work slightly differently.  Some may charge a fee of $25-$50 while others may charge less.  Some FFLs don’t do private party transfers, so you need to check with them first.

I know this sounds like a bit of a hassle and it is.  The rules are in place to make sure that people that shouldn’t have guns don’t get them.  You can also see why most people prefer to do a ‘face-to-face’ transfer.  They are much simpler…

Unfortunately, the law has not changed. It is absolutely still illegal to carry a firearm in any establishment that serves alcohol for consumption on the premises. The proposed legislation to allow this has not been passed. It seems like this gets introduced in each legislative session, but our representatives have not been able to construct a version of this law that will satisfy our Governor.

Some seem to have difficulty finding the appropriate statutes regarding alcohol and concealed carry. Most of the time it is because people look in Arizona Revised Statutes Title 13 which deals with criminal offenses.

The appropriate reference in the Arizona Revised Statutes Title 4 which deals with Alcoholic Beverages. The specific section of interest is:

ARS 4-244 — Unlawful Acts.

This section details all of the ‘unlawful acts’ associated with sale or consumption of alcoholic beverages. The specific subsections relating to firearms are numbers 29 and 30 which are reproduced below.

29. For any person other than a peace officer, the licensee or an employee of the licensee acting with the permission of the licensee to be in possession of a firearm while on the licensed premises of an on-sale retailer knowing such possession is prohibited. This paragraph shall not be construed to include a situation in which a person is on licensed premises for a limited time in order to seek emergency aid and such person does not buy, receive, consume or possess spirituous liquor. This paragraph shall not apply to hotel or motel guest room accommodations nor to the exhibition or display of a firearm in conjunction with a meeting, show, class or similar event.

30. For a licensee or employee to knowingly permit a person in possession of a firearm other than a peace officer, the licensee or an employee of the licensee acting with the permission of the licensee to remain on the licensed premises or to serve, sell or furnish spirituous liquor to a person in possession of a firearm while on the licensed premises of an on-sale retailer. This paragraph shall not apply to hotel or motel guest room accommodations nor to the exhibition or display of a firearm in conjunction with a meeting, show, class or similar event. It shall be a defense to action under this paragraph if the licensee or employee requested assistance of a peace officer to remove such person.

Violation of either of these sections is a Class 2 misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of up to $750 and 4 months in jail.

Bottom Line…if you can drink there, leave your gun outside. Lock it in your car, but don’t carry into a bar.