It has been long-established that the most fundamental human and civil right which every citizen of our nation enjoys is the individual right of personal self defense. This right has long been a cornerstone concept of both Natural and Common Law, and is included in both the Constitutions of the United States and the State of Utah. Inherent in and inseparable from the exercise of that right is the ready access to an effective means or instrument of self defense.
Since 1986, Utah has provided its adult citizens with a mechanism to more effectively exercise this right under the authority of a state-issued permit to carry a concealed firearm. This permit is issued after state certification of the applicant of their familiarity with the safe operation of a firearm and the laws regarding the use of force by a private citizen, and includes a thorough background check to verify no history of violence, substance abuse, moral turpitude or any other factor which would indicate the applicant to be a threat to themselves, others or the public in general. This permit has been valid without restriction throughout the state of Utah for more than a decade, and remains so today.
In 1995, Utah followed a national trend now in place in 2/3 of the states in the U.S., and shifted the burden of proof from the applicant proving a need for a permit to the state demonstrating disqualifying factors for issuance of a permit to the applicant. Since 1995, nearly 25,000 law-abiding Utah citizens, or about 2.5% of the eligible adult population, have been issued such a permit for the legal carry of a concealed firearm for lawful self defense. In that time, absolutely no pattern of abuse, endangerment or reckless behavior of any kind on the part of Utah concealed firearms permit holders has developed. These tens of thousands of good, decent, hard-working Utah citizens quietly go about their daily lives, more secure in the knowledge that they may effectively protect themselves and their loved-ones from violent criminal assault.
Many recent public policy proposals would punish these good, decent, law abiding Utah citizens, prevent them from defending themselves, and thus begin an open-ended laundry list of prohibited areas, circumstances and situations absent any evidence of abuse or misconduct whatsoever on the part of the impacted individuals.
Utah's major religious institution has recently called for a "common sense" approach to the issues of crime and violence. We agree that "common sense" should rule over raw emotion, and rational discourse rule over heated diatribe on this issue.
The simple "common sense" fact is that Utah's peaceable gun owners in general and licensed concealed firearms permit holders in particular are not the problem, and never have been. They are not walking into our schools, churches, libraries, businesses or other settings and wreaking armed havoc and mayhem. They, by their lifelong demonstrated behavior are the finest, most law-abiding members of our society, yet they are now being blamed by a sensationalist media, opportunistic politicians and some elite special interests for acts of violence and carnage with which they had no connection whatsoever. Utah's gun owners are just as appalled by these senseless acts of violence as the rest of our society. We also understand that depriving the huge majority of peaceable gun-owning citizens of any measure of their civil and Constitutional rights can not and will not prevent the destructive acts of murderers and madmen. Society, however well-meaning and good-intentioned, will never be able to prevent the violent acts of a criminal few by depriving the peaceable many of their lawful means of self-defense. Utah's firearms laws are not broken and never have been, and they need no "quick fix" to quiet an unduly inflamed public.
We can wholly trust our teachers, administrators and school staff, our devout church members, and our peaceable and law abiding fellow citizens to make responsible decisions regarding their physical safety by lawfully carrying a firearm for personal protection, should they choose to do so. These good citizens are not and never have been a threat to themselves, their fellow citizens, our children or to our society. They should not be treated and second class citizens because they believe in and responsibly exercise their Second Amendment rights. That's just good "common sense."
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