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Utah Laws Require Schools, Maybe Even BYU, to Allow Guns
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH -- On January 1, Governor Mike Leavitt's order
took effect that all Utah state agencies abolish bans against
carrying concealed weapons on state property. The order has brought
bans by Utah's universities to the debate floor of the Utah State
Legislature and has Mark Shurtleff, the Attorney General for the
State of Utah, currently researching whether BYU and other private
universities in the state can be required to allow guns on campus. He
has already stated that Utah law is clear with regard to state-owned
universities and state buildings: they cannot ban guns being carried
by those doing so legally.
Utah laws regarding permits for carrying concealed weapons are
referred to as "shall issue" laws, meaning that if someone requests a
permit to carry a concealed weapon, the state shall issue the permit
unless a compelling reason is found not to do so. Most other states
that allow the issuance of concealed weapon permits require the
requester to present a justifiable reason for carrying a weapon
before a permit is considered. 42,000 concealed weapons permits have
been issued in Utah which has a population of approximately 2.1
million.
Further, under Utah law, carrying a gun cannot be banned in any
location throughout the state except for airports, jails, mental
institutions and churches. For a church to ban the carrying of
weapons, a notice must be posted at the entry to the building stating
that weapons are not allowed on the premises. The LDS Church has
generally posted such notices. Most other properties throughout the
state are required by law to allow guns to be carried legally.
It is in this environment that gun rights advocates are asserting
their ability to carry guns where they understand the law to allow
them to do so. A high profile, state-owned property system is the
university campuses. Bernard Machen, the President of the University
of Utah, is standing by the school's policy of not allowing guns to
be carried onto campus by teachers, students, or visitors. Attorney
General Shurtleff is telling the state universities that they must
comply with Utah law and remove their bans.
Many Utahns are weighing in on the debate, which is currently before
state legislators. President Machen of the University of Utah is
leading the state schools' defense of their bans. He states
emphatically, "Classrooms, libraries, dormitories and cafeterias are
no place for lethal weapons." A columnist for the University of Utah
student newspaper, John Morley, writes: "The notion that students
need a weapon capable of administering death at any moment just to
feel safe is paranoid and poorly grounded. Its sets the whole campus
on edge and undermines the education mission." Former Utah Senator
Jake Garn is in favor of banning weapons from schools. He is a
trustee of the U of U.
Attorney General Shurtleff, meanwhile, is trying to clarify his role
in the debate: "People want to paint me as a gun nut. I don't make
the policy. I'm just enforcing the law."
But while the state schools are the focus of the current debate, the
law does prohibit banning of guns from almost all locations
throughout the state. Other high-profile properties are also involved
in the current right-to-bear-arms fray. The Delta Center, home of the
Utah Jazz pro basketball team and the venue for Olympic figure
skating is in the sights of advocates of the right to bear arms. A
tentative agreement seemed to have been reached that would have
allowed gun owners to bring their guns to Olympic venues, keeping
them in locked boxes on the sites. But the Secret Service has stymied
those plans under the heightened security since September 11th for
the games.
Winton Aposhian, legislative liaison for Gun Owners of Utah has
stated, "Delta Center is in defiance of our law right now. We'll deal
with them next, after we're done with the universities."
Source:
Utah Colleges Fight to Keep Weapons Out
New York Times 25Jan02 T3
By Timothy Egan
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