iCarryUtah – Firearms and Utah Concealed Carry

Well, the SHOT Show has been over for almost a week now, and I’m still busy with it.

We left the show on Thursday to make our way back to Salt Lake via St. George.  That was a relaxing evening, but then the work started.  I have a pile of hardcopy press kits (with information about new products for 2011 and other company news items) about 3 feet high, and a stack of kits on CD-ROM about 1 foot high.

This is a lot of material to go through, in addition to the notes and videos and photos taken during three-plus days of hands-on shooting at Media Day at the Range, meetings and interviews and press conferences at the show itself, and from walking both floors of the show from end to end – looking for items that our JeepGunner.com readers will be interested in over the coming year.

And I got back home just in time to start covering our State 2011 Legislative Session.  That’s going to get interesting, and there are already some good bills presented.   Yesterday I wrote a quick note about the ones out so far – and the house passed the bill making the 1911 the State Gun.  We will see what happens – we still have a lot more to come.

At the federal level, we have folks talking about a ban on “high capacity magazines”, which they are defining as anything over 10 rounds.  It was tried before as a part of the “assault weapons ban” and it didn’t do anything to help anything – but it did hurt LAW-ABIDING AMERICANS.  That is wrong and we CAN NOT let them do it again.  Get involved.  Join the NRA, join the GOA, contact your elected representatives, but above all DO SOMETHING.  Don’t go quietly into the night on this one.  It can and must be stopped.

We will have more in this blog and at JeepGunner.com in the near future.  Keep checking back.

The following bills have been proposed that we recommend our readers become familiar with…

HB 0214 – reduces the initial fee charged for a concealed firearm permit by $5.25, while increasing the renewal fee by $5.

HB 0210 –

provides that “torture” does not include shooting an animal with the intent to humanely kill the animal;
provides that it is a defense to prosecution for animal cruelty if the conduct of the actor towards the animal was reasonable and necessary to protect the actor or another person from injury or death;
provides that the provisions of this bill do not affect or prohibit the humane shooting or killing of an animal if the person doing the shooting or killing has a reasonable belief that the animal is a feral animal

HB 0219

This bill modifies the state symbols and designations to designate the Browning model M1911 automatic pistol as the state firearm.

SB 36 –

This bill:
requires a nonresident applicant for a concealed firearm permit to hold a current concealed firearm or concealed weapon permit from the applicant’s state of residency that recognizes the validity of the Utah permit in that state or has reciprocity with the Utah concealed firearm permit law; and
requires a nonresident applicant to pay an additional $5 processing fee for the issuance of the permit.

I’ll keep you updated as we find more.  You might also want to look into the Illegal Immigration Enforcement bills.  We need to do something. 

As I write this, I’m getting ready to head to Las Vegas for the 2011 SHOT (Shooting, Hunting, Outdoor Trade) Show.  It’s the biggest industry trade show where all of the manufacturers get together to show their products to the gun dealers that sell them to you.

With the recent shooting of a Congresswoman (Gabrielle Giffords) and several other people in Arizona, there are a few of the elected legislators in our congress that are beginning to float a new bill that is very reminiscent of the “Assault Weapons Ban”.

One aspect of that that ban – which was in place from 1994 through 2004 – eliminated magazines with a capacity greater than 10 rounds.  That meant that you were severely limiting the personal defensive capability – and the enjoyment of – most modern arms which are designed by the manufacturers with capacities greater than that.

Of course, law enforcement – and the bodyguards for members of congress – would be exempt.

That’s just wrong.

It seems that Carolyn McCarthy (D) NY is one of them.  I just tuned past the Rachel Maddow show on CNN and both of them were gushing over the possibility that civilization might be saved if gun owners will just roll over and accept this “simple, common-sense” limit on the 2nd Amendment.

Carolyn went as far as saying that this would prevent magazines like that going to the cartels in Mexico.

She needs to get a clue.  Do your research Carolyn, please.  Look at the statistics, don’t listen to the Mexicans.

The original “AWB” didn’t help.  It expired in 2004.  Look at the statistics before, during, and after.  They are there, and they don’t support her conclusions.

I strongly encourage you to contact your elected representatives and encourage them to NOT go along with ANY such legislation.  You may need to remember what happened to those responsible for the original “AWB”.  Most of them lost at the next election.

I’m expecting to hear a lot more about this during the show.  I’ll keep you updated on what happens.  Stay aware, and be involved.

For more coverage from the SHOT Show, please check out http://www.JeepGunner.com

Many of you have heard about the recently disclosed documents from the University of Utah dealing with legal open carry and concealed carry.  If you haven’t, here is a link to them…

http://www.iCarryUtah.com/uofu_policy_open_carry.pdf

The University of Utah has placed two of their police officers on leave because they leaked this document.  A complete story on this is available at http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/politics/50985304-90/university-campus-officers-policy.html.csp

Remi Barton with the University of Utah says that this information isn’t for the public record because…

the guidelines in question are protocols that officers use when responding to “potentially dangerous situations,” and therefore aren’t intended for public consumption and aren’t subject to state open-records laws.

Let’s read from the introduction to the document…

This guide is designated to provide UUPD officers with a quick reference when
responding to calls of persons displaying/openly carrying weapons in non-violent situations.

So, this guide IS NOT intended to reference “active shooter” scenarios.  It’s specifically intended for NON-VIOLENT situations.

Now, if a student writes a thesis with clear and blatant lies, that student is called to account for such behavior.  If they steal someone elses’ work, it’s not tolerated, and is considered dishonest.

But when the University itself does something dishonest – well, that’s apparently kosher.

I don’t think so.

First, the two officers that released this information – which is a clearly written example of how the University of Utah is attempting to ignore Utah law –  should be considered heroes.  They did the right thing.

Secondly, the University of Utah is basically lying about the intent of the document, by saying that it is intended as policy in dealing with potentially dangerous situations.  The document itself clearly states that it is for reference in NON-VIOLENT situations.  It’s one or the other, and the document itself states that it’s not what the University of Utah says it is.  No excuse for trying to hide it behind the guise of public safety.

So much for honesty at the University of Utah.  Michael K. Young should hang his head in shame.

Then you have the fact that the University of Utah is ignoring Utah law – yet again.

I’d recommend that you contact your state legislators and let them know that you object to your tax dollars being used to support an institution that ignores Utah laws.  The session starts later this month, and the University of Utah is asking for a lot of money.

Michael K. Young may have just shot himself (figuratively, of course) in the wallet.

I’d also like to address one other issue….

He wrote…

It is clear to me that having weapons in plain sight on this campus creates a fearful and intimidating campus environment.

Mr. Young, this is the western United States.  Utah is a much more free state than California or New York.  Here, it is acceptable for people to openly carry firearms.  Utah law DOES permit concealed firearm permit holders to openly carry firearms on your campus.

If you feel that this creates an intimidating environment, I’d invite you to relocate yourself to a state where this is not acceptable –  such as California or NewYork. Then you won’t see firearms openly carried, and most likely won’t encounter a concealed firearm either.

If you feel intimidated by things that are socially acceptable here in Utah, go somewhere where you will be comfortable with the social norms of the area.

I know that if I was not comfortable living somewhere because I didn’t like the social norms of the area, I’d be smart enough to move to a place where I felt safe and accepted.  I wouldn’t “kick against the pricks” in an effort to change that society to accommodate me.  The big people, real world doesn’t work that way.

This isn’t a zero-tolerance elementary or junior-high school you are running.  It’s supposed to be an institution of higher education where honesty and integrity are valued, and the free flow of ideas – even those foreign or contrary to yours – is encouraged.

Welcome to Utah.  It’s a more free State than most others.  If you don’t like that, don’t try to change it.  Don’t try to turn the University of Utah into your own idea of a utopia.  We like Utah the way it is, and it’s not your authority to ignore Utah law when it doesn’t fit your ideals.

If you can’t OBEY Utah law and be intellectually honest the way you tell your students to be, then please go find another school to run in a state where you will feel comfortable, where the laws are already the way you want them to be.  They are out there.  If you are not comfortable here, don’t keep torturing yourself.  Either learn to be comfortable here, or go where you will be comfortable.

That’s what a smart person would do.