This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
If a Wall Street hedge fund worries about scaring off investors by owning the manufacturer of a gun used in mass murders, the gun should come to Utah, where we love such weapons.
The New York Times reported Sunday that a Wall Street investment firm, Cerberus Capital Management, has been unable to sell Remington Outdoor, the manufacturer of the assault rifle used in the 2012 mass killings at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn.
So Cerberus said that to mollify its investors, who have been calling for the sale of the gunmaker, it will let them sell their individual stakes in Remington Outdoor and move the manufacturer out of its funds and into a special financial vehicle.
Not only was the AR-15 used at Sandy Hook, but it also was the rifle wielded during a deadly shooting spree in the Washington, D.C., area in 2002.
Even as investors and consumers are distancing themselves from that rifle, Utah legislators are embracing it.
The AR-15 was designated as the official 2015 Utah legislative commemorative firearm, complete with the engraving of the state's "industry" motto.
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Speaking of guns • A Utah Supreme Court decision earlier this year ruled that gun owners can be held liable for allowing an impaired person to handle a firearm that results in injury or death.
That should alarm gun-rights fans who push for almost unlimited protections for firearm owners.
The court ruled in Herland vs. Izatt that a gun owner who allowed an intoxicated woman to handle one of his guns during a party can be held liable for her death when she used that weapon to shoot herself in the head.
The decision reversed a 2nd District Court ruling in which the judge dismissed the wrongful-death suit brought by the woman's estate on grounds the gun owner did not owe her a "duty of care."
The justices deemed that gun owners have responsibility to keep impaired or incompetent individuals from their firearms. They noted, though, that a lower court still must determine the degree of fault between the deceased woman and the gun owner.
The case reminds me of the time U.S. Rep. Rob Bishop, when he was Utah House speaker in the early 1990s, held up a bill that would have imposed specific penalties for the irresponsible storage of firearms leading to the death or injury of a child. The gun lobby opposed the measure, and Bishop later became a paid gun-rights lobbyist.
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Collateral damage • Utah's federal court has had a vacancy for more than a year because the U.S. Senate cannot seem to get its act together to confirm Utah Supreme Court Justice Jill Parrish — even though President Barack Obama initially nominated her in September and Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, has had nothing but praise for the pick.
When the Senate failed to vote on her last year, Obama renominated her in January. Hatch said he expected her to be confirmed within weeks.
Finally, four months later, the vote on Parrish, who was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee in February, was scheduled for 2 p.m. Wednesday.
A funny thing then happened. Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, a GOP presidential wannabe, decided to give a 10-hour speech against the Patriot Act and, with the help of a few friends, including Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, did not relinquish the floor.
Hence, the planned Parrish vote perished — for a day. The Senate finally confirmed her, unanimously, Thursday.
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From the Big Apple to Delicate Arch • David Letterman, whose last show was Wednesday, told Rolling Stone recently that one of his goals is to visit some national parks, and he named Utah's Arches.
The Utah Office of Tourism, Film and Global Branding received a request Monday from "David Letterman @ the Ed Sullivan Theater in NYC" for a visitor guide. Office Director Vicki Varela says Letterman will get the guide, along with a Mighty 5 T-shirt, which touts the state's five national parks.
Here's an invitation to readers: Send me your top 10 reasons Letterman should come to Utah.