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http://www.sltrib.com/2003/Jan/01282003/utah/24071.asp
Battle Set Over Firearms in Schools
BY KIRSTEN STEWART
THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE
Utah's concealed-weapon permit holders will be free to carry guns into public schools if a state senator has his way.
Senate Majority Leader Michael Waddoups, R-Taylorsville, is sponsoring a bill at the behest of the Statewide Prosecutors Association that he says will "clean up" two muddy statutes on concealed weapons.
But the measure has rekindled a controversy in Utah over whether legally concealed weapons have a place on Utah school grounds.
The first law, which Waddoups seeks to repeal, bans "dangerous weapons" from school grounds and carries a Class B misdemeanor penalty. School administrators read this to include legally concealed firearms.
The second, a more recent and specific statute, grants exceptions for police officers, concealed-weapon permit holders and others, said Paul Boyden, prosecutors' association president.
"We don't want to be in a situation where we're forced to prosecute under conflicting laws."
Senate Bill 108 is scheduled for its first public hearing today before a Senate committee where it is expected to meet with opposition and refuel debate about whether schools and churches should be gun-free zones.
Coupled with other legislation that would make it harder for interest groups to get citizens' initiatives on election ballots, Waddoups' measure could be the "one-two punch that permanently kills the Safe to Learn, Safe to Worship movement forever," said Marla Kennedy, director of the Gun Violence Prevention Center of Utah.
Safe to Learn initiative backers failed to get the needed signatures for placing a referendum before voters in 2000 and 2002, but have their sights set on the 2004 election.
There is no telling how the bill will affect colleges, if at all.
The University of Utah awaits a federal judge's decision on the legality of its campus weapons ban, a policy that prodded Waddoups last year to threaten to pull taxpayer funding from the school.
For public schools "it's a big problem," said Kennedy. "Waddoups is endangering the safety of Utah's schoolchildren. There are just certain places guns shouldn't be and schools are among those places."
Gun-rights advocates support the legislation.
There is nothing to fear from law-abiding citizens with guns, said W. Clark Aposhian, chairman of the state Self Defense Instructors Network.
"We're moms and dads, teachers and doctors, just regular folks who just choose to get a weapons permit."
Boyden said he never intended to stir up trouble.
"It's interesting because it brings up all these issues with the gun people and school board which is not what we want to do," he said. "We just want the law clarified."
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© Copyright 2003, The Salt Lake Tribune.