2 bills on concealed weapons may clear up inconsistencies

Two bills making it easier for concealed weapon permit holders to carry guns on buses and in hotel rooms passed a House committee Wednesday.

Rep. Mark Walker, R-Sandy, sponsored the two bills, which he said cleans up inconsistencies in Utah law, making it easier for concealed weapon permit holders to carry their guns wherever they go.

HB355 amends the Innkeeper's Rights Act to forbid motel and hotel managers from denying service to a concealed-permit holder. Currently the law states an innkeeper can deny service if they believe a person is in possession of a dangerous weapon. Utah gun rights advocate Clark Aposhian said he called up about 10 different motels, posing as an out-of-state traveler who has a legal concealed weapon. "I got six different answers," Aposhian said, including managers who said he could not bring his gun into a room to others who said he would have to leave it in his car.

"The last one was 'don't ask, don't tell,'" Aposhian told members of the House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Standing Committee.

Committee co-chair Rep. Curtis Oda, R-Clearfield, said the bill is to correct more of an oversight in the law than anything and gave his support to the bill.

No one present Wednesday spoke in opposition to the bill and the committee passed it unanimously. The bill will now go to the House floor for final debate and vote.

Walker is also sponsoring HB354, which clears up a conflict in the law relating to the carrying of concealed weapons on buses.

Walker said the law already allows a concealed permit holder to carry a weapon on a bus but does not allow a lawful weapon to be carried into bus depots. The bill would also reduce unlawful possession of a concealed weapon on board a bus from a second-degree felony to a third-degree felony, which Walker explained brings the offense in line with the rest of Utah law.

The committee unanimously approved the bill, which now goes to the House floor for a vote.

---

E-mail: gfattah@desnews.com