This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2010, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Gov. Gary Herbert's signature is the only hurdle remaining for a holiday memorializing the late Utah firearms inventor John M. Browning.
The Utah House voted 64-0 Wednesday to commemorate the Utah-born inventor on Jan. 24, 2011, the opening day of next year's legislative session. It will come 100 years after Browning invented the 1911 .45 automatic pistol, which became the official sidearm for the U.S. military.
Sen. Mark Madsen, R-Eagle Mountain, had originally proposed the Browning recognition to occur annually on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, but backed down because of blowback to that plan.
"It's a very fitting tribute to one of the people who contributed so much to this world," said Rep. Carl Wimmer, R-Herriman.
