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from the Salt Lake Tribune
http://www.sltrib.com/2003/Nov/11212003/utah/112997.asp
http://www.sltrib.com/2003/Nov/11212003/utah/112997.asp
Packing a pistol OK in Utah Statehouse
By Dan Harrie
The Salt Lake Tribune
Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle this week vetoed a bill that would have permitted citizens to carry concealed weapons into most public places, including a controversial provision allowing people to go armed into the Legislature.
"An odd feature of the bill is that it would allow hidden guns even in the Statehouse during legislative debates," according to a story published by Stateline.Org. That feature caused quite a stir among lawmakers, who joked about coming to work armed with sawed-off shotguns and automatic weapons.
Suffice it to say the Badger State is a long way from Utah, where concealed-carry permits allow most any adult with no criminal record to pack where they please with few exceptions. The state Capitol, including legislative chambers, welcomes armed citizens with . . . well, with open arms.
"Sure," says Sen. Mike Waddoups, R-Taylorsville. "We haven't made any exceptions for ourselves. The issue was raised but we said, 'Why should we be above the law?' "
Waddoups is the acknowledged leader of gun-policy legislation in Utah, sponsoring most substantive legislation on the issue, including the 1995 amendment that turned the concealed carry laws upside down. Instead of the old statute requiring citizens to prove to law enforcement authorities they should be granted concealed-carry permits because of threats or other special circumstances, the 8-year-old law puts the burden on government to demonstrate why any citizen who passes a firearms familiarity class and a criminal background check shouldn't receive a permit.
The permit is good anywhere but in "secured areas" such as airports, prisons, jails and mental-health facilities. Churches and homeowners -- but not public schools -- also are allowed to prohibit gun-toting visitors.
Utah's state Capitol also is open to armed people with concealed-carry permits, or those who wear a gun strapped to their hip or in an otherwise openly visible manner.
"I've never heard anyone in the [Republican] majority complain," Waddoups says. Some Democrats have raised objections, "but they complain about everything."
Waddoups contends the proof is in the record -- no one has been killed or injured in blaze of gunfire even during the most heated Capitol debates. Nor has anyone fallen victim to an accidental shooting in the marbled structure.
Sen. Paula Julander, D-Salt Lake City, argues that nonviolent record could be toppled any time, given current lax regulations.
"As one legislator who has had her life threatened and had a bodyguard, I am quite concerned" about the free admission of guns into the Capitol, including public galleries overseeing the House and Senate chambers, she says. "Doesn't that make you a good sitting target?"
Julander, a nurse who is on the board of Utah's Gun Violence Prevention Center, says she's been "on the other side of the gunshot, sitting at the [victim's] bedside."
The Legislature is no place for guns, she says, because divisive issues can suddenly flare into emotional outbursts and "sometimes people act before they think."
Some of the Utah Highway Patrol officers charged with maintaining security at Utah's most prominent government building also have some qualms about the current gun policy.
"Right now we just kind of have to do the best we can with what we have," says Sgt. Wade Breur.
A gunman with evil intent wandering into the Legislature "would probably get shots off before we could respond. That's kind of sad, but it's possible," he says.
"We know some of the trouble-makers that have concealed weapons permits, but the law doesn't allow us to detain or question them. We do watch them more carefully. Some of them are kind of hotheads."
Capitol officials in 2001 purchased portable metal detectors that could be set up at Capitol entrances to turn the building into a secure facility. But the machines have been in storage the entire time except for an event featuring President Bush during the 2002 Winter Olympics.
A policy adopted last year allows exclusion of permitted concealed guns in the Capitol only when security officials declare a state of heightened alert, triggered by a threat or other indication of unusual risk.
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© Copyright 2003, The Salt Lake Tribune
