"Weapons compound man's power to achieve; they amplify the capabilities of both the good man and the bad, and to exactly the same degree, having no will of their own. Thus we must regard them as servants, not masters - and good servants to good men. Without them, man is diminished, and his opportunities to fulfill his destiny are lessened. An unarmed man can only flee from evil, and evil is not overcome by fleeing from it."
-- Jeff Cooper
In Alert #314, we discussed a pro-gun bill, HB 357, sponsored by Rep. Stephen Sandstrom (from House District 58). It turned out that there were some technical glitches in the language of this bill, due to drafting problems, which made it so that the bill didn’t really do everything it was intended to do. This has been corrected, and a rewritten bill called HB 357 Substitute has replaced HB 357. The new bill not only fixes the glitches, but it does more good stuff.
First, HB 357 Substitute would make it legal for you to carry a loaded and/or concealed firearm in a motor vehicle without a concealed-weapon permit, provided that you either own the vehicle or you have permission from the owner of the vehicle to carry a loaded and/or concealed firearm in it.
Under current law, if you don’t have a permit and you want to carry a firearm in a motor vehicle, you need to keep the gun unloaded. The gun must also be carried in plain view, or else it must be "securely encased". The definition of "securely encased", when applied to a motor vehicle, is vague and open to diverse interpretation. This has led to people being charged with a crime for carrying a firearm in a way that might reasonably seem legal under a layman’s interpretation of the law.
HB 357 Substitute does away with these problems.
Also, under current law, it’s illegal to carry a concealed firearm in your own home without a permit. HB 357 Substitute would make it legal to carry a loaded and/or concealed firearm without a permit at your place of residence, as well as on any real property that you own. The bill would also make it legal to carry a concealed firearm without a permit at a business that you either own or control.
HB 357 Substitute passed out of the House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee by a vote of 7/0 (with 5 people absent) and heads for the floor of the House, possibly as soon as Wednesday, March 4th.
The full text of HB 357 Substitute can be read [here].
Please contact your own Utah State Representative as soon as possible and ask him to vote for HB 357 Substitute with no hostile amendments (he’ll know what this means).
Your representative’s e-mail and home phone can be found [here].
Alternatively, you can contact your rep by sending a Fax to the House Fax machine (with your rep’s name at the top of the Fax), or by leaving a brief message at the House switchboard.
Please let your rep know that you live in his district. If you happen to hold any offices in your representative’s political party, such as a party delegate or precinct chairman, please mention this as well.
Utah State House of Representatives
P.O. Box 145030
Salt Lake City, UT 84114
House Switchboard: (801)538-1029
Fax for Republican representatives: (801)326-1544
Fax for Democratic representatives: (801)326-1539
On 2 March 2009 our friends at Gun Owners of America (GOA) released the following alert regarding the historic Senate vote to kill the Washinton D.C. gun ban.
By a resounding vote of 62 to 36 last week, the U.S. Senate has approved an amendment, offered by Senator John Ensign of Nevada, to repeal the D.C. gun ban.
Congratulations!
But the battle is not over.
This week, the House will take up the D.C. voting legislation. And anti-gun Speaker Nancy Pelosi is angling to impose a "gag rule" on the House, so that D.C. gets its unconstitutional representative, while continuing its draconian anti-gun laws (like microstamping).
So here's the deal: The House will be asked to consider a "rule" which establishes the time for debate and provides for which amendments may be considered -- and which may not.
It is expected that the Pelosi rule will seek to deny the House any vote on the D.C. gun ban and thereby strip the repeal of the ban from the House bill.
So what we are asking you to do is to write and/or call your congressman and demand that he oppose any rule that strips the D.C. gun ban repeal from the D.C. voting bill.
Just to remind you of how draconian the D.C. gun law is:
Aside from being ineffectual with respect to stolen guns or crimes where the brass has not been left behind, this microstamping provision is intended to make guns so expensive that they won't be available anywhere -- including your state.
"John Wangsgaard's letter missed the message ('Tribune on guns,'
Forum, Feb. 24). Colleen Hanson's comments had nothing to do with pushing an 'anti-gun' agenda. She simply said that gun sellers should be held to a higher standard than alcohol sales clerks. Why? Because they sell guns that are made to kill things, and existing gun-sales laws don't work well enough.
They need to be tightened -- starting with stronger penalties for gun sellers (like Sportsman's Fast Cash) who don't adhere to those laws.
And Trolley Square shooter Sulejman Talovic bought his guns illegally: The .38 caliber was a stolen gun, and people under 21 can't purchase pistol-grip shotguns (they allegedly 'forgot' to even ask for his driver license). The penalty? A collective slap on the wrist.
The message is this: If we do nothing, innocent people will continue to die.
Do we really want a society where it's everyone for themselves and everyone carries guns? Is that how out of control we want to be as 'Christian' Americans? C'mon, we're better than that.
Please remember, those were real people who died that night at Trolley
Square. I was there. I saw it all."
-- Stacy Hanson, in a letter printed in The Salt Lake Tribune, 3 March 2009.
Date:
From:
To:
Dear Representative :
As one of your constituents, I encourage you to vote for HB 357 Substitute without hostile amendments.
This bill, sponsored by Rep. Sandstrom, would make it legal to carry a concealed firearm in one’s own home without a permit, which is, astonishingly, illegal under current law. It would also make it legal to carry concealed on one’s own real property, or at a business that one owns or controls.
HB 357 Substitute would also allow the carrying of a legally-possessed loaded and/or concealed firearm in one’s motor vehicle without a permit. The last time I checked, all six states adjoining Utah allow a loaded firearm to be openly carried in a motor vehicle without a permit, and four of these states allow a firearm to be carried concealed, in one fashion or another, inside a motor vehicle without a permit. To my knowledge, these states haven’t had any problems arising from such laws.
Please get back to me and let me know how you voted on HB 357 Substitute. Thanks for taking time to consider my opinion on this matter.
Sincerely,
That concludes the GOUtah! Political and Legislative Alert #317 for 3 March 2009. 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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