Should open carry on Utah’s public college campuses be banned or affirmed? Two bills take opposite sides.

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One Utah lawmaker wants to make sure state law clearly enshrines the right to have a gun at a public college — and make the rules for that less restrictive. Another wants open carry to be expressly banned on any campus, with no exceptions.

The two opposing bills, both introduced in the Utah Legislature, could significantly shape gun policy for Utah after several high-profile shooting deaths here.

For higher education, in particular, the debate comes in the wake of the shooting of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk, who was killed while speaking at Utah Valley University last fall. His death has roiled the state and drawn international attention after, according to law enforcement, a single shot was fired from one of the school’s rooftops.

Much of the conversation has centered on the politics and policies around weapons in Republican-majority Utah, which currently is one of the most permissive states in the country when it comes to guns and what few laws restrict them — particularly in higher education spaces.

It already is legal to both concealed and open carry a gun on Utah’s eight public university and college campuses, with few exceptions.

In 2021, Utah became an open or “constitutional” carry state. That means it is legal for Utah residents 21 years or older to carry a weapon — either openly or concealed — without a permit or background check in most places. That includes carrying rifles, shotguns and handguns.

There is one small restriction for public higher education campuses: A Utah concealed carry permit is required to open carry there.

Utah allows residents over the age of 21 to obtain a permit to carry a concealed gun. The state also issues “provisional permits” for those 18 to 20 years old — the typical age of a college student. Those younger than 18 cannot open or concealed carry.

There has been some confusion over the law, particularly around campuses. Clark Aposhian, a national firearm lobbyist and the chair of the Utah Shooting Sports Council, has said that Utah law operates by listing specific places where weapons are banned. Utah’s colleges and universities historically have not been on that list, he previously noted, so it’s long been implied that carrying was allowed.

During the 2025 legislative session, a bill attempted to streamline Utah’s laws on guns. Aposhian said that led some to believe the law had changed to allow open carry on campuses for the first time because it was expressly written out. But it was just a clarification to spell out existing rights, he said.

In this year’s legislative session, which began Tuesday, Rep. Walt Brooks, R-St. George, is running HB84 in an attempt to make it even clearer, he said. Brooks was also one of the sponsoring lawmakers behind the effort to originally make Utah a “constitutional carry” state.

“We just want to make sure there’s consistency throughout the state,” Brooks told The Salt Lake Tribune. “It is clarifying the law on how it has always been understood.”

His measure basically affirms that concealed and open carry are allowed on the state’s college campuses.

And it takes the law one step further: It would drop the requirement for a concealed permit to open carry at a university or college, making it even less restrictive.

Brooks’ measure continues, though, to include the long-established rule that a student living in college dorms can request to have a roommate who does not own a gun.

On the other side of the aisle, Rep. Andrew Stoddard, D-Sandy, has drafted HB180. That bill states that a person with a concealed carry permit may not openly carry a gun on a college campus.

It also adds more places for that ban to extend in Utah: a day care facility and a public or private K-12 school.

“If we’re investing so much in school safety and trying to prevent school shootings, it seems like this is a logical step,” Stoddard told The Tribune.

Stoddard said his bill was not spurred by Kirk’s death, but by a general concern about guns in spaces where students are trying to learn.

Currently, carrying openly is technically banned under federal law in K-12 schools, though Utah law doesn’t state that in its list of exceptions. Utahns can explicitly carry a concealed gun in those schools, and some lawmakers have encouraged teachers to do so for defense in the event of a shooting.

Stoddard said he’s still “debating what to do.” He thinks the bill is more likely to pass if it just bans open carry in daycares and K-12 schools — and continues to allow it on college campuses. He wants to have an initial committee hearing, he said, “to take the temperature” of his legislative colleagues before making changes.

“Anywhere there’s potentially volatile situations and you inject a firearm in there, it’s a problem,” he said. “It’s the last thing I want at my kids’ school: To show up and have a guy openly carrying.”

A third bill being proposed this session from Rep. Verona Mauga, D-Taylorsville, also deals with open carry. It’s not specific to higher education campuses, but relates to the proximity to protests.

HB166 would ban open carry within 500 feet of a large public gathering, including protests and rallies, of more than 200 people.

Mauga’s measure comes after the shooting death of a bystander at a “No Kings” rally in Salt Lake City this summer, after a safety volunteer allegedly reacted to seeing another man carrying a rifle.

None of the three measures would change the rules for Utah law enforcement officers, who are exempt from the policies around gun restrictions based on location.