Westboro Banned From Tucson Shooting Funerals

Arizona governor Jan Brewer signed an emergency law passed to prevent picketing by the Westboro Baptist Church at the funeral of a 9-year-old girl killed Saturday in the Tucson shooting rampage that left Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords critically wounded.

According to ABC 15, the Arizona house and senate unanimously passed the law in response to plans from the antigay church based in Topeka, Kan., to protest the funerals of the shooting victims. The law prohibits protests within 300 feet or a funeral or burial service.

The Westboro Baptist Church regularly protests the military funerals of soldiers killed in the line of duty, claiming that their deaths are God's punishment for the nation's tolerance of homosexuality. Other states have passed laws to ban the funeral protests.

The bill was sponsored in the Arizona senate by out bisexual legislator Krysten Sinema.

Westoboro has vowed to continue with the protests outside the 300-foot zone.