Utah Constitution:
Article I, Section 6. [Right to bear arms.]
The individual right of the people to keep and bear arms for
security and defense of self, family, others, property, or the state, as
well as for other lawful purposes shall not be infringed; but nothing
herein shall prevent the Legislature from defining the lawful use of
arms.
Utah is an open carry state,
with very few exceptions. One is if you are going to hide that you are
carrying a gun you need a background check. Most people I have spoken
to, and there are exceptions, like our Utah concealed carry permit system. As
someone torn on the issue, I included a question about constitutional
carry on the questionnaire I sent out the beginning of this year's
session. Most residents in my area responded that they like the concealed carry permit for
those that want to conceal that they are carrying.
I do believe we need to fix
the problem about the U of U and others hassling an open carry. A bill to help solve that was
amended and died this last session. I spoke on the floor of the house to promote passage of the bill, quoting the Utah Constitution as to why the bill should pass, and mentioning that I knew one of those killed at Trolley Square. I voted against weakening the bill, and voted for passage, hoping there would be a way to make the bill better, or that it would improve what we have now. The Representative running against me this fall voted opposite from me on both cases.
http://le.utah.gov/~2012/status/hbillsta/hb0049s03.htm
Update: The new proposed bill is at:
http://le.utah.gov/~2013/bills/hbillint/HB0268.htm
In any version of any of the first
proposed "2nd Amendments", (below) tell me where it says that you have a right
to conceal that you are armed with a handgun? You have a better defined
right of protection under the Utah State constitution.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution#Conflict_and_compromise_in_Congress_produce_the_Bill_of_Rights
What we got was this,US Constitution Amendment II
A well
regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the
right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
I have asked Legislative
Research to verify that the current Utah Concealed Firearm Permit is
constitutional under both the US and the Utah Constitution. If I lose
that argument, I will change my stand. [they came back and said our CFP and Utah Constitution were fine OK, based on the last couple of SCOTUS rulings]
And for those that do not believe there should be any limits or permits for any weapon, arm, or armament, consider this list:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armaments#Classification
Do you really think the founders planned on your neighbor having a satellite deployed nuclear missile device with launching app for their Iphone?
On the other hand, a simple semi-automatic rifle or hand gun does require that you pull the trigger each time you wish to shoot. They should not be banned, nor called assault weapons.