"If anybody comes into my home and tries to hurt my kids, I've no problem shooting them."
-- Angelina Jolie (quoted in the New York Daily News, June 1, 2008)
One of the great things about Utah is that our state issues concealed-weapon permits to any U.S. resident who qualifies, regardless of whether the applicant lives in Utah.
Furthermore, a large number of states recognize Utah’s permits.
Thus, even a resident of a state such as California, New York, or Illinois, where concealed-weapon permits are difficult or impossible to obtain, can get a Utah permit that enables him to legally carry a self-defense weapon in a large number of states. This is a good thing.
N. W. Clayton, GOUtah!’s Director of Communications, reminisces: "When I lived in California in the 1990s, I was repeatedly turned down when I tried to get a California concealed-carry permit because I wasn’t a wealthy politically-connected celebrity, which is basically what you have to be to get a permit in most jurisdictions there. So I obtained a Utah permit, which, though it didn’t enable me to carry in California, at least enabled me to legally carry when I came to visit friends and family in Utah, or when I visited one of the states that recognize Utah permits."
However, you can rest assured that whenever we have a good thing, government bureaucrats and legislators will try to ruin it. Such is now the case with Utah’s non-resident permit policy.
During the monthly interim session of the Legislature in May, Utah Public Safety Commissioner Scott Duncan stated that he opposes the issuance of permits to non-Utahns. Several state legislators also expressed skepticism about the issuance of permits to non-residents. This, in spite of the facts that (a) non-Utahns accounted for roughly half of the CCW applications processed by the Bureau of Criminal Identification (BCI) last year, bringing in more than $500,000 in revenue for BCI, and (b) nobody has shown that the issuance of permits to non-residents has caused any problems, either in Utah or in any other state. Nonetheless, Commissioner Duncan stated that it would be "hard to know" what the benefits are of issuing permits to non-Utahns.
According to an account of the hearing provided by the Deseret News, legislators opposed to issuing permits to non-residents, including Rep. Scott McCoy and Sen. Bill Hickman, were essentially asking "why should we be doing this?" Fortunately, Rep. Curt Oda responded by saying: "Why not? An American is an American. I don't care if he's a New York American or a Utah American, as citizens we have rights." We wholeheartedly agree with Rep. Oda on this matter.
GOUtah! strongly supports the current policy of issuing permits to non-Utahns who qualify. The larger the number of law-abiding citizens out there carrying self-defense weapons in this great country, the better. Regardless of whether or not they’re Utah residents.
Unfortunately, momentum seems to be building in both the executive and legislative branches of Utah’s government to either eliminate the issuance of permits to non-Utahns, or to make it prohibitively expensive. We encourage you to go to the action item below and send a message to the Governor. In our next alert, we’ll ask you to contact your state legislators on this same matter.
Thanks to your efforts, we achieved most of the results we were hoping for at the recent county and state conventions of the major political parties in Utah.
We created some political pain for anti-gun Rep. Steve Urquhart, as outlined in recent alerts. Although Rep. Urquhart, who is retiring from the House of Representatives, won his party’s nomination for the Senate seat in district 29, we think we may have helped reduce his chances of getting any sort of significant leadership position in the Senate if he wins in November.
We also created some political pain for Sen. Curt Bramble at the Utah County GOP convention by passing out flyers to delegates from Sen. Bramble’s district, highlighting the Senator’s actions against gun owners. Thanks to Matt Misbach for distributing flyers at the convention.
Also, thanks to your help, the following pro-gun-rights legislators who were being challenged from within their own parties won at their respective conventions and will be on the ballot in the November election:
Rep. Curt Oda
Sen. Mike Waddoups
Sen. Craig Buttars
Sen. Mark Madsen
Rep. Stephen Sandstrom
Note: GOUtah! does not endorse any political party or candidate. We simply believe in lending a helping hand to politicians, regardless of party affiliation, who have actively stood up for gun rights and self-defense rights in the recent past, and we believe in creating political pain for politicians of any party who have worked to diminish our rights. And, of course, we couldn’t do any of this without your help.
Please contact Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, Jr. and ask him to oppose any effort to eliminate or curtail the issuance of concealed-weapon permits to non-Utahns who are legal U.S. residents.
Webmail: http://governor.utah.gov/goca/form_comment.html
Utah State Capitol Complex
350 North State Street
Suite 200
PO Box 142220
Salt Lake City, Utah 84114-2220
Phone: (801)538-1000
Toll-free: (800)705-2464
Fax: (801)538-1528
On 6 June 2008 our friends at Gun Owners of America (GOA) posted the following alert.
Representative Bill Sali is introducing a bill to send a message to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE) that freedom still means something in this country.
As part of its Asset Forfeiture training program for agents, the BATFE ordered 2,000 Leatherman tools inscribed with the words "Always Think Forfeiture." The program urges agents to focus on seizing private property.
Rep Sali believes the agency should be thinking 'Freedom,' not 'Forfeiture.' The Idaho Republican complained about the program and recieved a letter from Acting ATF Director Michael Sullivan, who apologized for the "confusion" over the issue.
While Rep. Sali appreciated the apology, he said that, "My constituents deserve to know the truth about this marketing program, which has been interpreted by many Idahoans as anti-gun and anti-private property."
The agency halted distribution of the tools in the face of public outcry, but "[t]he fact remains that the ATF thought it was OK to think 'Always Think Forfeiture' instead of focusing on protecting our constitutional rights," Sali said.
In a letter to his fellow Congressmen, Sali noted that "the inscription raises serious concerns to law-abiding citizens as to the intent of an ATF agent who is performing investigations, particularly with respect to law-abiding gun owners."
Rep. Sali plans to introduce the 'Always Think Freedom' bill sometime next week. The bill will prohibit the agency from making purchases of tool kits "on which any reminder of forfeiture appears."
Action: Please urge your Representative to become an original cosponsor of the "Always Think Freedom Act."
"Christopher Biltoft is correct that the situation concerning guns and self-defense is different now than when the founders lived ('Guns then and now,' Forum, April 26). However, threats still exist. Though rare, they are now more likely from armed or physically overpowering criminals on the streets or from home invasions by criminals.
It has been reported that the greatest fears of would-be home invaders are not from the police but from armed homeowners. Those are the real reasons for armed self-defense in this day and age."
-- Garland L. Bray, in a letter printed in The Salt Lake Tribune, 6 May 2008.
Date:
From:
To: The Honorable Jon Huntsman, Jr., Governor
Dear Gov. Huntsman:
As a Utah resident and voter, I encourage you to oppose any effort by the Department of Public Safety or the State Legislature to eliminate or curtail the issuance of concealed-weapon permits to non-Utahns.
Nobody has shown that the issuance of permits to non-residents has caused any problems, either in Utah or in other states. Furthermore, non-resident applicants generate about $500,000 in annual revenue for the Utah Bureau of Criminal Identification.
Americans who live in states that don’t issue concealed-weapon permits to ordinary citizens have befitted from being able to obtain Utah permits, enabling them to legally carry self-defense weapons when visiting Utah or other states that recognize Utah permits.
Thanks for taking time to consider my views on this matter.
Sincerely,
That concludes the GOUtah! Political and Legislative Alert #301 for 10 June, 2008. We hope this information will be of assistance to you in defending your firearms rights.
Remember that getting this information is meaningless unless You Act On It Today. If you just read it and dump it in the trash, your gun rights, and the gun rights of future generations go in the trash with it. Get involved, get active and get vocal!
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