Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- A bill that would allow people 18 or older to have a loaded gun in a vehicle without a concealed weapons permit is hung up in a Senate committee with only two weeks remaining in the legislative session.
The Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee voted Wednesday to hold Senate Bill 24 until a later meeting after it was clear the bill would fail.
The Utah Chiefs of Police Association opposes the bill because for fear it could potentially endanger officers and children. But the bill's sponsor, Sen. Mark Madsen, R-Lehi, contends his bill would take away the criminal advantage. He also said it would prevent law-abiding citizens from unknowingly committing a Class A misdemeanor by failing to store their firearms properly. Under current law, a weapon can be stored in a trunk but not in a locked glove compartment.
Madsen has the support of several Utah gun clubs and the National Rifle Association, which cite statistics that show violent crime did not increase in other states, including Missouri and Florida, that passed similar laws.
Nationally, serious violent crimes have been declining steadily since 1993, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Since then, 21 states have enacted laws or loosened restrictions on the carrying of concealed weapons, bringing the total to 38. Most of those states are in the South and West, including nearly every state surrounding Utah.
"I don't see that somehow their communities have come unglued as a result of it -- that there's this vast amount of new crime. We're kind of sitting in the middle of a group of the states in the Intermountain West which allow these types of rights with firearms," said Sen. David Thomas, R-South Weber.
Madsen had been holding his bill since the first week of the legislative session with the hope that Sen. Chris Buttars, R- West Jordan, would be there to help push it through. Buttars is the chairman of the committee, but has spent the past several weeks in a hospital with an undisclosed illness.
Opposition to the bill came from senators who thought Madsen's bill went too far in allowing guns at businesses and reducing the age someone can have a loaded weapon in a vehicle.
Under current law, only people with concealed weapons permits can have loaded guns in their vehicles. Permit-holders must be at least 21. Under Madsen's bill, people 18 or older could have loaded weapons in their vehicles or another vehicle if they have the driver's permission.
"The bill rightly is trying to deal with some of the anomalies in the law having to do with a locked glove department. However, this is too broad," said Sen. Patrice Arent, D-Murray. "This does open it up to those who have never had training to having an unconcealed weapon in a car."
Others expressed concerns that the bill would allow concealed weapons at a place of business.
"I can't vote for the provisions in this bill relative to workplace safety and employer vehicles. It's not right an employer can't control that," said Sen. Gregory Bell, R-Fruit Heights.
However, Madsen said employers could prohibit any weapons they wanted to. It just wouldn't be a criminal offense if such a policy were violated.
Madsen said he was unsure if he would amend his bill before it comes up again or if he would be able to persuade committee members without an amendment.
Sen. Alma Mansell, R-Midvale, also opposed Madsen's bill because he said it was too broad. But it was his idea to leave the door open for it to come up again. The next committee meeting is Friday.
"Senator Madsen has got some things in here that really make sense to me," he said. "The argument that the criminals are ready, I understand that. But I don't know that I want everyone else to so quickly to take a shot back."
------
On the Net: www.le.state.ut.us/ 7/82006/htmdoc/sbillhtm/SB0024.htm
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
