Utah Legislature hopes to hold a gun to federal law

SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Legislature completed a succinct memo to the federal government at the Capitol on Wednesday — stay out of the state's business.

That message was delivered via House passage of SB11, a bill sponsored by Sen. Margaret Dayton that articulates a direct challenge to the U.S. Constitution, based on an interpretation of states' rights that relate to commerce.

Dayton's challenge comes in the form of legislation declaring that those who manufacture and sell guns and ammunition within Utah state boundaries are not beholden to federal firearms regulation.

Her bill, which found favor in the Senate last week, now moves on to the desk of Gov. Gary Herbert and, if it gets the governor's signature, could very well make a stop in federal court in the near future, a likelihood Dayton has said she welcomes.

"It's the duty of our state to challenge the courts," Dayton said last week during Senate debate. "This is not about accepting the status quo, it's about questioning the status quo."

Taking the lead on waging that battle, however, may not find favor with Herbert, who last week told the Deseret News now isn't the time for Utah to incur large litigation costs on that issue or other state's rights bills.

"I think we need to challenge the federal government as we have opportunity," Herbert said. "But, I'm not really too keen on putting us in a position where we cause litigation that we have to pay for. I don't know if we want to fight a fight where we have to dump a million dollars into litigation."

Following SB11's passage Wednesday, Herbert spokeswoman Angie Welling said the governor would work with Dayton and legal counsel in reviewing the bill, which he has 10 days to complete before signing the bill, vetoing it or letting it become law without his signature.

In the meantime, a first step in the constitutional challenge inherent to Dayton's bill has already been taken in federal district court in Montana, where the so-called Montana Firearms Freedom Act, the model for her SB11 that became law in the Big Sky state last fall, awaits a hearing this spring.

The timing of a Utah version of that court challenge, and the costs associated with it, are also a concern for lawmakers who opposed the measure.

Rep. Rebecca Chavez-Houck, D-Salt Lake, said waiting out the Montana case could save the state much-needed dollars in a dire economic year.