Keep gun permit process

To hear the gun lobby tell it, talk during a recent legislative meeting about dropping existing requirements for concealed handguns permits was just that, talk. Some gun rights advocates said it was merely an aside to a larger discussion on concealed weapons that was blown out of proportion by members of the Utah media.

The other possibility is that gun rights advocates advanced the idea as a trial balloon. From our perspective, this initiative needs to be deflated as soon as possible.

Instead of doing away with permit processes and procedures, the process should be more stringent. Applicants should have to attend a class, pass a written exam and demonstrate their proficiency in live firing. As a legislative audit revealed a couple of years ago, there needs to be greater oversight of instructors.

Gun owners should be the last people to want to junk Utah's concealed firearms permit process. Utah's permit process, which includes an FBI background check, enables a Utah permit to be recognized in other states. Utah has signed reciprocity agreements with four states — Arizona, North Carolina, North Dakota and South Dakota. Otherwise, the Utah Bureau of Criminal Identification advises people who want to carry a concealed weapon to check with local authorities in other states regarding the laws in their particular jurisdiction.

Members of the gun lobby also contend that few concealed carry permit applicants want to take part in live firing because they are experienced gun owners. Even so, considering that concealed handgun permit holders can carry guns into many public places, which include public schools, it is a small thing to ask that applicants demonstrate a certain degree of mastery as a condition of this special privilege.

After all, government requires new drivers to complete a certain amount of on-road training and take vision and written tests before a driver license is granted. We view the privileges of a concealed handgun permit no differently.

Some gun rights advocates go so far as to say that Utah should drop its training requirements all together. This is a reckless course, considering that instructional classes might be the only occasion in which a gun owner is taught when and where it is appropriate to carry a concealed handgun in Utah.

While some gun owners might find it to be an onerous requirement, as long as concealed weapons can be carried into crowded public school classrooms, the state has a compelling interest to oversee the more than 59,000 concealed weapons permits issued to Utahns and residents of other states.