State senator David Hinkins (R-Orangeville) is pushing to remove the concealed carry permit requirement in Utah because he believes it unfairly burdens the exercise of Second Amendment rights.
Utah allows open carry of a handgun without a permit, but a person legally—and openly—carrying a handgun requires a concealed permit if his jacket or sweater hangs down over the gun, thereby hiding it from plain sight.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Hinkins said, “If you have it on your body and it’s out in the open, you’re OK. But the minute you put it in your scabbard to protect it, you’re breaking the law.” He said the fact that laws are structured this way means citizens who want to carry concealed instead of openly have to pay a fee to the state—a fee that open carriers can forgo.
Hinkins’s legislation is opposed by the Gun Violence Policy Center of Utah’s Gary Sackett, who says, “It’s common sense that you just don’t let people walk around untrained, with weapons that are built only to kill people.”
Sackett misses the fact that walking around with handguns carried in plain sight without a permit is already legal. Hinkins just wants to level the playing ground for concealed carriers as well.
Sackett wants the legislation to go in the opposite way and require a permit for open carry as well.
AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.