This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

To those who favored HB76, the "constitutional carry" gun law that would have allowed people to carry a concealed firearm without a permit, and which the governor rightly vetoed, I remind you who else besides you could legally carry concealed weapons — people like my paranoid schizophrenic friend.

Although he faithfully takes his prescribed medication, he continually tells me if only he could buy a gun he would be dead. Under current Utah law, he is not restricted from firearms because he has never been adjudicated by a court to be mentally ill (never had a judge order him into a mental facility). Thank heavens, he erroneously believes he cannot own a gun.

The danger is not just his own suicide. His mental illness makes him think most people disrespect him, including the students who walk past his house daily, people in the grocery store and his doctor who, he thinks, intentionally does not cure his rash. If he had a gun, who knows how many people he might "off" to show them they can't disrespect him.

Even though you may be superbly trained and very cool-headed, are you safer when your mentally ill, hot-headed or insecure control-freak neighbors can shoot first?

Nelda Bishop

Bountiful