Why is it more important for one person to be able to sport a gun within a 500-foot perimeter of a school than it is for hundreds of children within that school to have to hide in their classrooms in fear that that person could come into their school and start shooting?
As the grandmother of 12, I spoke before the House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee, pleading with them to move House Bill 217, Open Carry Near Schools, forward in order to help prevent unnecessary lock-downs that are terrorizing our students.
Committee Chairman Lee Perry worried that hunters in his rural district might need to openly carry their hunting rifles in front of schools. Another speaker’s argument was that a person might walk by a school in the summer when school is out, with a gun, and be arrested.
These arguments appeared to convince six representatives on the committee that we need to protect the few who choose to openly carry a gun in front of a school in session rather than the thousands of students this decision impacts.
We, as Utah citizens, need to know how each of our representatives are voting on bills that are being presented, and re-elect accordingly.
Marsha Olsen, Holladay