A Utah lawmaker wants to allow concealed firearms permit holders to take their guns to Utah Jazz and Utah Mammoth home games, as well as concerts and other events held at the Delta Center and a host of other venues around the state.
“We’re a Second Amendment state,” said Rep. Candice Pierucci, R-Herriman, “and we have a really robust concealed carry permit. … The idea would be that if you’re going to accept state dollars, we should at least have a discussion on if you’re going to prohibit someone’s Second Amendment rights while you’re there.”
Pierucci’s HB452, which was unveiled Monday, would require any private entity, business or venue that has received more than $1 million in public funding to allow concealed firearms permit holders to bring their guns to events.
Two years ago, the Legislature appropriated nearly $1 billion in subsidies to Salt Lake City’s sports and entertainment district to help attract an NHL team to Utah, renovate the Delta Center and pay for other improvements to the area.
Currently, the NBA explicitly prohibits firearms at all games and NHL arenas, including the Delta Center, have policies prohibiting weapons of any kind. The Delta Center has metal detectors when entering the building.
A spokesperson for Smith Entertainment Group, which owns the Jazz and the Mammoth, did not respond to a request for comment.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Rep. Candice Pierucci, R-Riverton, in the House Chamber at the Utah Capitol in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026.
Pierucci said she is working on the bill on behalf of a constituent who was prohibited from bringing their gun to games.
“They had tried to go in and, I think, given the safety climate, they would have felt better with their family had they been able to pack along their concealed [firearm] while walking around downtown,” she said.
Salt Lake City Police Chief Brian Redd said Monday that he hadn’t seen Pierucci’s bill and would have to study it to understand the potential impact.
Utah has allowed individuals to openly carry firearms in most locations since 2021 without a concealed firearms permit, but some locations, like schools, hospitals and college campuses, remained off-limits.
Last year, the Legislature enacted a new law that allows concealed carry permit holders to take their guns on public university campuses.
As of June 30, 2025, there are 657,271 people with active Utah concealed firearms permits, according to the Department of Public Safety, but more than 400,000 of them live outside of Utah and got a permit because the state’s permit is recognized in at least 37 other states.
To obtain a concealed firearms permit, an individual must pass a background check, complete a firearms familiarity course and pay a fee, among other qualifications.
If Pierucci’s bill passes, the impacts go beyond the Jazz and the Mammoth. It would upend bans on firearms at Real Salt Lake soccer matches; Major League Baseball games, if a team is lured to the state; and the Utah State Fair.
She does not think the bill would apply to events at Brigham Young University.
It would not impact the Salt Lake City International Airport, Pierucci said, because it is under federal regulations.
For the same reason, the 2034 Winter Olympic venues may be exempt from the proposed change. The federal government traditionally designates the Olympics as a “national security special event” and takes over many of the security functions.
The bill could, however, apply to some private hospitals if they have received public money.
Pierucci said she expects the bill will be refined in the coming days.
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