GOUtah!
Letter Of Support For SB 121 Sent to Sen. Jenkins

Charles Hardy
Policy Director
Gun Owners of Utah (GOUtah!)

23 January 2002

Dear Sen. Jenkins

On behalf of our members, Gun Owners of Utah (GOUtah!) is pleased to support S.B. 121, Concealed Firearm Permit Amendments, as currently written to eliminate the requirement for training prior to receiving a State issued permit to carry a concealed firearm. While we fully support and encourage all those who own or use firearms to obtain proper training, we believe it is both unnecessary and inappropriate for the State of Utah to legally mandate a course of training prior to the exercise of the right to an effective self-defense.

We are also pleased to see that S.B. 121 would limit the reasons under which a permit may be denied or revoked to those causes currently, specifically enumerated in the statute.

We encourage you to consider amending your bill so as to remove the requirements for providing a residential and work history as well as letters of reference. These requirements continue to be archaic holdovers from Utah's old, discriminatory permit system, under which an applicant for a permit had to prove he had some cause to carry a weapon. Today, they do nothing but add time, expense, and hassle to both the applicant and the processing agency. An application cannot be denied due where a person has lived or where or even whether he has been employed; only for lack of providing the information. An applicant who honestly said he had been unemployed for the last five years and had been living under the 6th South viaduct is as eligible for a permit as any other law abiding citizen. As to the letters of reference, does anyone doubt that even Charles Manson could find two people willing to sign such letters for him? This requirement simply adds time and hassle to applicants who may find themselves in dire need of a permit. It also undermines and invades an applicant's privacy. There is no reason an applicant should have to advertise her intentions to carry a self-defense weapon to neighbors, friends, coworkers, nor anyone else. Such decisions should be private if so desired.

Finally, please understand that our support of this bill is due to the content thereof, not the title, number, nor even sponsor. Should the bill be amended, in any way, that we believe infringes, limits, or damages the rights of law abiding citizens to own or possess the tools of an effective self-defense, our current, enthusiastic support of this bill will be replaced with vigorous opposition.

We look forward to passage of this bill as currently written and/or with the amendments removing residential and work history and letters of reference requirements we suggest above. Please let us know what we can do to assist you in seeing this bill successfully passed and signed into law.

Sincerely

Charles Hardy
Policy Director GOUtah!
charles@goutahorg.org