A House panel on Friday OK'd a bill clarifying that the legal carrier of a concealed weapon may reveal it or mention it in an effort to keep a quarrel from escalating.

Rep. Stephen Sandstrom, R-Orem, said his bill, HB78, could help stop fights before they start and keep gun carriers from feeling they must point a weapon at an aggressor.

"It takes away the all-or-nothing approach that we have available to us right now," Sandstrom told members of the House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee.

Rep. Richard Greenwood, R-Roy, said he appreciates a middle ground between allowing someone to conceal a weapon and pointing it at someone. Currently gun permittees must go from "zero to 100 in a split second," he said.

Steve Gunn of the Gun Violence Prevention Center testified that the bill raises the question of who in Utah may carry a gun openly without a permit. The law appears to allow any non-felon older than 18 to do that, he said, and he believes lawmakers should specify who has that right.

The committee voted unanimously to recommend the bill to the full House.