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Utah bill would grant some offenders access to guns after 3 years

Bill sponsor Rep. Phil Lyman said the measure would result in fewer people being prosecuted.

(John Locher | AP) In this Jan. 19, 2016 photo, handguns are displayed at the Smith & Wesson booth at the Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade Show in Las Vegas. A Utah bill that would automatically reinstate nonviolent offenders’ access to firearms three years after the end of their sentence passed favorably out of a House committee on Thursday, Feb. 23, 2023.

  | Feb. 24, 2023, 1:00 p.m.
| Updated: 3:28 p.m.

A Utah bill that would automatically reinstate nonviolent offenders’ access to firearms three years after the end of their sentence passed favorably out of a House committee on Thursday.

The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Phil Lyman, told the House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee on Thursday afternoon that passing HB507 would result in fewer people prosecuted for firearm-possession offenses, and fewer people going through the expungement process.

The committee on Thursday reviewed and approved a substituted version of the bill, which specified that felons and those convicted of domestic violence or another violent offense would not be eligible to have gun access reinstated through the measure.

Lyman, R-Blanding, said the proposal stood to save the state $10 million in its first year, $21 million in its second year and $31 million in each following year, citing the bill’s fiscal note. Lyman said conservative podcast host Jonathan Harvey, who attended Thursday’s hearing, first brought the proposed change to his attention.

“I’m a firm believer that men should be men, and we should give them their rights back if they’re nonviolent,” Harvey told the committee. “... This bill is not for everyone. I’m not trying to advocate for everyone, I’m just advocating for men who are trying to be dads and protectors of their families and utilize the right that was given to us by God.”

Lyman specified that under federal law, felons are still barred from access to firearms.

During public comment, Will Carlson, chief policy advisor with the Salt Lake County district attorney’s office, said the substituted bill was an improvement from its original version, since the original didn’t carve out exceptions for violent offenders.

But Carlson argued that the bill would still require further changes before the district attorney’s office could be in full support, including changing the three-year period before access to seven years, because at seven years, “after sentencing is complete, anybody can apply to have that offense expunged.”

Citing the federal law banning felons from accessing guns, Carlson asked the committee to “hold off before passing this out to the full chamber.”

Lyman’s proposal passed out of committee on a 9-1 vote and now heads to the House floor.