A teen and his mother are renewing their push for statewide brass knuckle legislation after he was attacked in a Gilbert parking lot in December 2022.
Connor and Stephanie Jarnagan went to state lawmakers with the goal of banning brass knuckles in 2024, but were unsuccessful. They're hoping that by revising the bill to only ban brass knuckles for minors in the state, the bill will have a better chance of passing.
Connor was 16 when he was attacked in the parking lot of a Gilbert In-N-Out restaurant.
"When it happened to me, I kinda looked at the situation, and I thought to myself how can I make this better," said Connor. "And especially after Preston Lord died it really hit my heart heavy to keep going after it."
Since the attack, Connor and Stephanie have been advocating for stronger brass knuckle legislation. The pair spoke out at Tempe, Chandler and Gilbert council meetings. Chandler and Gilbert have since approved ordinances that ban the sale and possession of brass knuckles to minors. Tempe banned the sale of brass knuckles to minors and possession in public regardless of age.
"For a lot of the Senators and House members I think my message is this is more of a commonsense issue than a 2A," said Connor. "Making the argument that brass knuckles are needed in our community, it just doesn’t make sense to me."
They are hoping the bill will be placed on next week’s agenda for the Public Safety Committee, but Connor plans to be at the capitol every chance he can.
"I think of the past year, it's been a really big part of my life and getting it passed would make me proud of what I’ve been doing," said Connor. "And just knowing if I can prevent one brass knuckles attack in the future, it would really mean a lot to me."
