PHOENIX (AP) - An Arizona legislator has walked back his recent comments that black and Hispanic communities "are better armed than the police officers who are supposed to be controlling them" and that they "have firearms galore."
Republican Rep. Jay Lawrence of Scottsdale told the Arizona Republic that his comments during an Aug. 29 forum on gun control were unfair and too broad and that he should have been clear that he was concerned about gangs in those communities.
Lawrence's comment was first reported by Cronkite News of Arizona State University.
Democratic Rep. Diego Rodriguez of Phoenix attended the forum. He told the Republic that Lawrence's comments came from "a place of ignorance" and said it's dangerous to paint entire communities with a broad brush.
