This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2008, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
There's a gunfight shaping up in the Utah Legislature. Gun advocates who want Utah to continue to arm the nation versus government bureaucrats and gun-control advocates who see the dangers in Utah's permissive concealed-carry permitting system.
Utah permits are the Tootsie Pops of concealed-carry permits: easily obtained, inexpensive, long-lasting and unhealthy, for Utahns and the nation as a whole. More than a third of Utah's 100,000-plus permits are in the hands of non-residents, who bypass more-stringent requirements in their home states. That doesn't seem fair.
The opening shots were fired last week at a meeting of the Legislature's Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice interim committee.
Lt. Douglas Anderson, manager of the state Bureau of Criminal Identification, said his agency, with just three firearms investigators, has a difficult time regulating out-of-state instructors. In fact, they don't, relying instead on what Anderson termed a "tattle-tale" system. That's why, if we can't assure that non-residents are adequately trained, those applicants should have to come to Utah to obtain a Utah permit.
Dee Rowland, board chairwoman for the Gun Violence Prevention Center, argued that the five-year duration of Utah permits is too long for non-resident permit holders. While technology allows daily criminal background checks on resident permit holders, crimes committed by non-residents that would require forfeiture of a permit can't be detected until they seek a renewal.
Rowland is right. A lot can happen in five years. Non-resident permit holders should be subjected to more-frequent reviews. Richard Townsend, deputy commissioner of the state Department of Public Safety, suggested that the state stop issuing non-resident permits, enabling resident applicants to be served faster and more efficiently. That's the best idea yet.
But Clark Aposhian, chairman of the Utah Shooting Sports Council, defended the current system. He said Utah should continue to license all Americans because "the ability to defend one's self should not stop at a state's border." Maybe so. But the right of a state to safeguard its citizens should begin there.
Hopefully, high noon has finally arrived, and advocates for reasonable gun laws will carry the day. Utah needs to revise its overly liberal permitting system. If not, other states would be wise not to recognize permits issued so lavishly, and thoughtlessly, by the Beehive State.