Ignored last time, gun bill resurfaces

A bill ignored by the Legislature last year is getting some early attention this time around.

SB175, which would have allowed gun owners to keep a loaded gun in their vehicles, was among a number of measures that received no action during the 2005 Legislature, in part because it was drafted with eight days left in the session. The same bill was back Wednesday before the Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Interim Committee.

And it will enter the 2006 General Session as a bill from that committee, under a new name, to be determined later.

Sen. Mark Madsen, R-Lehi, is sponsoring the bill, which essentially extends to a person's car the permission of having loaded guns in the home.

When Madsen initially proposed the bill this past February, he said it would "enable individuals to carry a means of protection in a situation where danger may present itself."

That message was echoed Wednesday during the committee's meeting.

Madsen invited Charles Hardy, policy director for Gun Owners of Utah, to speak to the committee about why the bill is necessary.

Utah is the only state in the Intermountain West that doesn't allow loaded guns in vehicles.

Mitch Vilos is a firearms law attorney from Centerville who favors Madsen's proposal and considers it a matter of trust. "It's time for the state to trust gun owners to do the right thing in their cars as we trust them to do the right thing in their homes."

Twenty-four states already allow gun owners to keep a loaded firearm in their vehicles, Vilos said. Current Utah law requires guns to be unloaded in a vehicle.

Hardy said 11 states have no restrictions on loaded firearms, and 13 states have some limits.

"It's enough to get you killed if you have an unloaded gun and you need one," Vilos said, adding the change wouldn't mean everyone would be keeping a loaded gun their cars.

The Department of Public Safety is yet to take a position, said spokesman Jeff Nigbur, noting that the question is a "public policy issue" that would be added to its list of duties should legislation be approved and signed into law.

Department officials are aware of the bill and the increase of guns on highways it might bring, but they said they are reserving comment until asked for it by the Legislature.

Some concerns raised a year ago and are surfacing now are that loaded guns could make road-rage incidents much more dangerous and would be a safety risk for children as well as other passengers in the vehicle.

Madsen told the committee that large numbers of people, who are otherwise law-abiding citizens, already carry guns in vehicles without legal authority, but there haven't been any serious incidents, he said.

Rep. Patricia Jones, D-Salt Lake, said most people are law-abiding citizens, but it only takes one act to lose that status.

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E-mail: jdougherty@desnews.com