Clerics Say They Shouldn't Need Sign to Ban Guns
Salt Lake Tribune 29Aug99 L1
By Bob Mims: Salt Lake Tribune

As the result of the shootings at the Family History Center, the Utah State Legislature has responded to the outcry from citizens and clergy in doing something about guns on church owned properties.

However, the resulting legislation is not quite like the combined clergy had envisioned. With the exception of law enforcement officials, the current new law gives churches the right to ban all firearms on any of their properties and in their places of worship if they first post prohibition signs.

The LDS Church authorities along with the rest of the faith community have yet to require local congregations to post signs at chapel doors, with the exception of the Episcopalians, who have installed brightly colored 25 x 40-inch placards at their entrances. But all faiths have long made it clear that their combined meeting houses and related church properties are designed as a peaceful refuge from the cares of the world and are no place for firearms.

The combined clergy were hoping for a law that would automatically prohibit firearms on all church owned property without any need for signs.