Commemoration for Utah gunmaker John Browning to be one-time event — for now

SALT LAKE CITY — The 100th anniversary of the greatest invention of Utah gunmaker John M. Browning will be commemorated on Jan. 24, 2011, under a bill passed Monday by the Senate.

SB247, sponsored by Sen. Mark Madsen, R-Eagle Mountain, was approved 23-0 and now will be considered by the House.

Madsen had been criticized earlier in the session for considering celebrating the gunmaker's accomplishments on the same day as the holiday for the Rev. Martin Luther King, the assassinated civil rights leader.

After talking with other groups, including the LDS Church, about sharing holidays such as Pioneer Day, Madsen decided the Browning commemoration would be a one-time event — at least for now.

With his 1911 pistol, Browning "made an unequaled contribution to our armed forces since World War I," Madsen said.

He said a permanent holiday for Browning may be considered in the future.

Since it's not a state holiday, no one will get Jan. 24, 2011, off, but the "John M. Browning Commemorative Day" will fall on the first day of the 2011 Legislature, Sen. Jon Greiner, R-Ogden, noted.

— Lisa Riley Roche