ALAN CHOATE - Daily Herald | Posted: Wednesday, February 15, 2006 11:00 pm
Current rules for carrying weapons in vehicles are confusing and desperately need updating, a Utah County senator said Wednesday -- but his colleagues thought the proposed legislation went too far.
The bill by state Sen. Mark Madsen, R-Eagle Mountain, would also address the presence of guns in businesses and on private property. Members of a Senate committee decided to hold the bill for further consideration rather than send it to the full Senate.
"This is too broad," said Sen. Patrice Arent, D-Salt Lake City.
Some Republican colleagues on the Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee agreed, although Sen. Dave Thomas, R-South Weber, voiced strong support for the bill.
Madsen said his bill is aimed at clarifying existing law. It would allow someone to have a loaded gun in a car or at his or her home, business or property, as long as they are otherwise legally entitled to possess the firearm.
"This just really deals with where you can take the gun unloaded, you can take it loaded," he said.
The proposal turns on specific definitions of terms such as "loaded" and "concealed."
There are several inconsistencies in current law -- for example, a gun in a trunk or in a case is not a violation, but a driver could be in trouble for "concealing" the firearm in the glove compartment. A pistol with a full magazine, meanwhile, is not considered to be loaded unless a round is actually in the chamber.
Brian Judy of the National Rifle Association noted that a person driving with a pistol in plain view on the passenger seat with a full magazine could be considered legal, while that same driver would violate the law if he completely unloaded the pistol and put it in the glove compartment.
Steve Gunn of the Gun Violence Prevention Center of Utah, however, said the legislation would "throw the baby out with the bathwater" in trying to address the problems.
Currently those with a concealed weapons permit can take a loaded gun in a car, he said -- but this bill would open that ability to people currently ineligible for such a permit.
That list would include people under 21 and people with convictions for domestic violence or alcohol offenses, he said.
South Ogden Police Chief Val Shupe, speaking on behalf of the Utah Chiefs of Police, also criticized the bill, saying it would endanger officers as they perform routine work.
Thomas, however, noted that most states around Utah have adopted similar provisions.
"I don't see that somehow these communities have come unglued because of it," Thomas said.
Some wording in the bill concerned Sen. Greg Bell, R-Fruit Heights, who said it could compromise an employer's ability to keep firearms out of his place of business.
This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page A6.