Here’s how Utah lawmakers want to change state gun law after the deadly ‘No Kings’ shooting

Two Utah legislators want to revise the state’s gun laws in the wake of the summer’s deadly “No Kings” shooting.

State Sen. Kathleen Riebe, D-Cottonwood Heights, intends to introduce legislation that she hopes will close what Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill says is a loophole in the state’s self-defense law. Rep. Verona Mauga, D-Taylorsville, also plans to pursue a separate bill that would limit carrying guns at rallies or protests.

Riebe’s announcement came after it took prosecutors nearly six months to file a charge in the fatal June 14 shooting, a delay that Gill attributed to the situation’s unusual circumstances and Utah’s “liberal open carry laws.”

“My goal is just to provide some clarity if this ever happens again,” Riebe said, “so that if you discharge trying to protect people around you and other people are hurt, we’ll have some guidelines on what’s going to happen next.”

Case complications and Utah law

Prosecutors ultimately charged protest safety volunteer Matthew Scott Alder, 43, on Dec. 3 with manslaughter in the shooting death of 39-year-old Arthur “Afa” Folasa Ah Loo.

Alder said he fired his weapon because he feared 24-year-old Arturo Gamboa, who was carrying an assault-style rifle at the gathering, was about to commit a mass shooting, charging documents show.

Two bullets Alder allegedly fired wounded Gamboa. Investigators say Alder’s third and final gunshot killed Ah Loo, who was participating in the march.

Prosecutors are only charging Alder in Ah Loo’s death because his first two shots could be protected under Utah’s self-defense justification law, Gill said during a news conference announcing the charge.

“We believe that the third shot was the reckless shot, and while you may have a right to use lethal force, that doesn’t mean that lethal force can be used in a reckless manner,” Gill said. “...An assailant assumes the risk of being killed by [their] victim. A bystander, however, does nothing to trigger the victim’s use of deadly force, and cannot be held to have assumed the same risk as the assailant simply by being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Utah law allows anyone 21 or older to open carry firearms without a permit on public streets.

State law also says an individual is justified in “threatening or using force” against another person if the individual “reasonably believes” that force is imminently necessary to defend someone else, Gill said.

“In theory,” Gill said, “you can have two individuals open carry and simultaneously have a situation where one may use deadly force, if the objective facts support an imminent fear for one’s life or the lives of others”

That creates a loophole, Gill added, which creates a danger for “innocent bystanders” like Ah Loo.

Both Gill and Jim McConkie — the Salt Lake City lawyer representing Ah Loo’s widow, Laura Ah Loo — said they hope for more clarity from legislators on gun laws in the future.

“My hope is that once the facts get out, that we’ll all put our heads together and say, ‘Look, how are we going to make things safer?’” McConkie said at a news conference this month. “That may mean we need some good legislation.”

Potential changes on the horizon

Riebe said she believes there are a few instances in Utah law where the loophole Gill cited could come into play — specifically with the “guardian law” passed in 2024 that requires armed guards in every public school across the Beehive State.

At the time that bill was considered, Riebe questioned who would be liable should an innocent person get caught in the crosshairs of a “school guardian.” Riebe said she’s looking at other states as she works to determine what should happen if a person opening fire in self-defense accidentally kills someone else.

For her part, Mauga wants to prohibit open carry of firearms within 500 feet of large public gatherings of 200 people or more. Violators would face a misdemeanor charge if they refuse to comply after a verbal warning from law enforcement to either conceal the weapon or move farther from the gathering, Mauga said.

Similar laws already exist in Alabama and North Carolina, Mauga added.

“The focus is specifically on open carry at large, crowded events where tensions can be high and misunderstandings can escalate quickly,” Mauga said in a text message. “... I introduced this bill because I don’t want to see what happened to Afa happen to anyone else.”

Experts say it’s difficult to codify self-defense standards in law because any fear of imminent threat is inherently subjective.

Paul Cassell, a criminal justice professor at the University of Utah and former federal judge, said the “No Kings” shooting case is “right on the edge” of the law, meaning there may not be an easy way to make things clearer in state statute.

“This is why we have, ultimately, juries to make a decision — because we rely on juries to take the law, take the facts and then reach an outcome that properly blends those two things together,” Cassell said. “Sometimes, there are just cases that need to be charged and presented to a jury so that there can be some increased clarity or understanding about what is reasonable in situations like this.”

Clark Aposhian, a national firearm lobbyist and chair of the Utah Shooting Sports Council, added that he believes Alder’s use of force was excessive and reckless but said the law shouldn’t be modified to accommodate rare occurrences like the “No Kings” shooting.

Instead, juries should determine outcomes for such cases, Aposhian continued.

“We don’t have that absolute metric or formula in statutes,” he said, “nor does any state have that in statute to exactly define, ‘Is this self defense or is this excessive use of force?’”

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