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Gov. Gary Herbert says he would likely once again veto legislation that would let gun owners carry concealed weapons without a Utah permit.

"I cannot see me signing a bill that hasn't had some significant modifications from a past bill I already vetoed," Herbert told The Salt Lake Tribune Editorial Board on Thursday.

Herbert vetoed the bill in 2013, arguing that the current concealed-weapon permit regimen — which requires owners to take a course and pass a background check to carry a gun — was working fine. The law also runs daily checks to ensure permit holders haven't committed a crime that would disqualify them.

But Rep. Lee Perry, R-Perry, plans to sponsor legislation to bring the bill back in the upcoming legislative session.

"The intent of this bill is to not require Utahns, who are law-abiding citizens and can already legally open carry, to obtain yet another permit to conceal carry," Perry said Thursday. "Citizens of Utah who believe, barring any other factors, that carrying a concealed gun on their person should not be a crime, should be supportive of this legislation."

Currently, Utahns can carry an unloaded weapon in public. To carry a concealed weapon, the gun owner has to obtain a permit.

Gun owners should still get a concealed-weapon permit, said Perry, who is a Utah Highway Patrol officer and emphasized that the legislation does not reflect the views of the patrol "or anyone else in law enforcement."

Herbert said he hasn't heard many people complaining about Utah's current gun laws and objects to supporters labeling the proposed legislation as "constitutional carry."

"Why don't we call it what it really is? Permitless carry. That's what it really is. What we have on the books today is constitutional," he said. "What the states decide to do under the law is constitutional. State concealed-weapons permits are constitutional."

Herbert also took exception to anecdotes spread by supporters of the previous measure that the governor said were entirely fabricated. The sponsor of the 2013 bill, former Rep. John Mathis, told the story of a man on horseback carrying a gun when it started to rain.

After he put his coat on, a ranger stopped him and harassed him for carrying a concealed weapon without a permit.

"We check and find that there's nowhere that has happened," Herbert said. "If you have to manufacture an incident just to justify changing a law, then that's probably not a good foundation to build upon."