PA Bill Number: HB335
Title: In inchoate crimes, further providing for prohibited offensive weapons.
Description: In inchoate crimes, further providing for prohibited offensive weapons. ...
Last Action: Removed from table
Last Action Date: May 1, 2024
Utah lawmakers to grapple with gun issues (including Constitutional Carry) :: 01/25/2016
SALT LAKE CITY — With a contentious debate over gun rights sweeping the nation, Utah lawmakers have several firearms-related bills in the chamber, including the return of the so-called "constitutional carry" law.
Sen. David Hinkins, R-Orangeville, is running the controversial legislation again this year that would let people carry concealed weapons without the permit Utah law requires. His bill passed the Senate in 2015 but didn't get through the House.
Hinkins calls it "pushback" against efforts to chip away at gun rights.
"The main reason I'm doing it is I've got a bunch of constituents that are just hellbent for election that they shouldn't have to have a permit to carry it. They say they don't have to have a permit to have free speech, they shouldn't have to have a permit to carry a weapon," he said. "And they really don't, other than if you put a coat over it. Then you're screwed."
Utah law allows guns to be openly carried. But it is against the law to have it under a jacket or in a purse without a permit. Hinkins' bill would make carrying a concealed gun legal for anyone at least 21 years old.
Gov. Gary Herbert vetoed the same legislation in 2013, citing police concerns that the law would make dramatic changes in the state's permit system that requires a background check and a firearms safety course.
That may or may not be his position at the end of the 2016 session.
Herbert spokesman Jon Cox said the governor has been working with several legislators on this issue over the past few months. It is still early in that process, but Herbert is optimistic that a common sense resolution can be found, he said.
Hinkins' bill is among four or five in the works as the 2016 Legislature gets underway Monday.
Provo Republican Rep. Norm Thurston again will try to repeal a state law that makes it a felony to carry a concealed gun or dangerous weapon on a bus or train. The House unanimously passed the bill last year, but it didn't get through the Senate.
Also, Rep. Jeremy Peterson, R-Ogden, is looking at legislation that would fix an apparent computer glitch that sometimes causes background checks on gun sales to take two or three hours. The check typically takes about 15 minutes through the state Bureau of Criminal Identification.
State lawmakers held off on passing much gun legislation last year, but that could change given recent national events.
Mass shootings and gun violence across the country prompted President Barack Obama to take executive action to beef up background checks on gun sales and strengthen enforcement of firearms laws. The move outraged conservative state legislators who say they still don't know what it means for local buyers and sellers.
"We want to make sure that anything that gets done, gets done right," said Rep. Curt Oda, R-Clearfield, a staunch advocate for gun owners. "No one really knows what's in his directive. That is the danger in the things he does."
Oda said he has some legislation in the works but declined to discuss specifics, other than to say the goal is to strengthen Second Amendment rights.
"We don’t call it guns rights anymore. We call it self-defense rights. Guns don't have rights. People have rights," he said.
House Minority Leader Brian King, D-Salt Lake City, said he was happy to see Obama's executive orders, which he called measured, moderate and well within the president's authority. He's frustrated that lawmakers can't discuss the issue more openly.
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865646098/Utah-lawmakers-to-grapple-with-gun-issues.html
