Utah stops giving foreigners gun permits

Utah no longer issues concealed-weapons permits to non-U.S. residents because it's impossible to conduct criminal background checks on applicants, a legislative committee was told Tuesday.

The state Department of Public Safety adopted a rule change on Aug. 28 that ended the practice of letting foreigners show a hunting license to obtain a permit allowing them to carry a concealed weapon throughout the United States.

Utah had been one of only three states, along with New Hampshire and Vermont, to issue concealed weapons permits to non-U.S. residents. Utah receives the vast majority of applications, department attorney Rick Wyss told the Administrative Rules Review Committee.

"It seems Utah had become the state of choice for people who don't live in the United States but want to be able to carry guns here," Wyss said, creating a backlog of applicants that "somewhat alarmed" the department.

The department had required applicants from outside the United States to show proof of a hunting permit because the federal government does let non-U.S. residents possess a firearm if they're here to hunt.

But Wyss said the state is unable to determine if the applicants had a criminal background outside the United States, because there's little or no access to records of crimes committed in other countries.

"We had no idea what they had done in their own country," Wyss said.

The background check conducted by the department only identifies crimes committed within the United States. The rule now states that if an applicant's criminal background cannot be checked, a permit cannot be issued. It also removes the option of showing a hunting license.

There are some 1,000 current concealed-weapons permits from Utah held by residents of a long list of other nations, including Canada, Mexico, Japan and even the Republic of Congo, according to Lt. Doug Anderson of the department's Bureau of Criminal Identification.

The permits are valid for five years, and some will come up for renewal soon, Anderson said. But he said the holders of those permits, mainly business people who want to carry guns for protection while traveling in the United States, will be out of luck.

Members of the Legislature's Administrative Rules Review Committee said they agreed with the intent of the new rule but want to consider whether the state law should be changed to make it clearer.