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Gov. Jon Huntsman says he supports an individual's right to own and carry a firearm, but he does not support a current state law that allows gun owners from other states to get a Utah permit without even stepping foot in the state.
The governor has serious questions about this issue. Today, he said he can't figure out how Utah residents benefit from a person from another state getting a Utah gun permit. We asked the governor about the issue at his monthly KUED news conference this morning.
Applicants don't even have to come to Utah to get a carry-conceal permit, and so far this year, nearly half of all new permits were from out-of-state gun owners.
Officials from the Department of Public Safety (DPS) question whether the cost, liability and safety questions with the mail-order program are worth it. The governor has those same questions and is seriously looking at pursuing changes to the current law.
"I'm not totally comfortable with the way things are being done, and I've made my feelings known. And DPS has also come to me with things they're not totally comfortable with. And so I've said, ‘Lets get serious about this,'" Huntsman said.
Questions about the policy have been asked for weeks, most recently at a legislative hearing. But the majority of conservative lawmakers at the hearing didn't think there were any problems with the current law. They feel the right of individuals to own and carry a handgun trumps these other, more obscure concerns.
Applicants from out of state are required to get certified by a qualified firearms expert in another state, and no specific problems have been identified. But that isn't easing concerns of critics of the current law.
E-mail: rpiatt@ksl.com
