Measure restricts seizure of guns

During a declared state of emergency, law enforcement officers would not be able to take guns from the public under a bill that passed out of committee Tuesday.

The measure, SB201, is in response to actions taken by law enforcement officers after Hurricane Katrina to take guns away from people affected by the storm. The bill passed 4-1 out of the Senate Business and Labor Committee.

"It's truly horrific when the government comes and takes away your means of self-protection and herds you into the Superdome and leaves you there and provides you no means of protection," Sen. Dan Eastman, R-Bountiful, said in support of the bill.

Sen. Gene Davis, D-Salt Lake, voted against the measure.

But a second gun bill, SB78, passed unanimously out of the committee. It would allow someone to conceal a gun in their car, even if they were in a privately owned parking lot where guns were forbidden.

Both bills are sponsored by Sen. Mark Madsen, R-Lehi. Although some committee members raised concerns that the second gun bill, SB78, would infringe on private property rights, Madsen said that the measure was an attempt to balance the rights of gun owners and property owners.

The measure allows companies with limited-access secured parking lots and religious organizations to continue to ban guns in parking lots.

Clark Aposhian, a gun rights advocate and representative of the National Rifle Association, said during committee debate that companies that ban guns are naive to the effects of their actions.

"This is easy to couch as a gun versus property rights issue," he said. "This is self-defense."

Jim Olsen, president of the Utah Retail Merchants Association, and members from the Gun Rights Violence Prevention Center of Utah spoke against the bill.

"As an employer, we are required to provide a secure workplace," he said. "How do we do that if guns are allowed in a secure area?"

Both of the bills now move to the Senate Rules Committee, which will decide if they receive a hearing on the Senate floor. Sen. Ed Mayne, D-West Valley, said during committee debate that he'd at least like the bills to be heard on the Senate floor.

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E-mail: nwarburton@desnews.com