Utah GOP Rep. Pushes to Ban Open Carry on College Campuses

Utah state Rep. Walt Brooks (R) is pushing a ban on open carry on public college campuses and offering a consolation prize that consists of being able to concealed carry without a permit.

Open carry on Utah public college campuses has been legal since 2021 and it includes long guns as well as handguns. But the Salt Lake Tribune noted that Brooks is now pushing to allow the concealed carry of handguns only and to mandate that people with long guns store said firearms in their vehicles.

Heretofore, a Utah concealed carry permit has been required in order to open carry. Brooks is offering to do away with that requirement, as it relates to concealed carry, and allow constitutional concealed carry on campus in place of open carry.

KPCW quoted Brooks saying, “Open carrying does cause a lot of concern with a lot of people, especially on campuses.”

What this means is Brooks’ current legislative push, HB84, has been changed from protecting open carry and concealed carry to protecting concealed carry alone.

State Rep. Rex Shipp (R) worries how Brooks’ new push would impact students who hunt, as HB84 would bar them from bringing their hunting rifle or shotgun into their dorms.

Instead, the student would have to leave the rifle or shotgun in their car, which could be burglarized.

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and the director of global marketing for Lone Star Hunts. He holds a PhD in Military History with a focus on the Vietnam War (brown water navy), U.S. Navy since Inception, the Civil War, and Early Modern Europe. He enjoys reading Philosophy and novels by Jack Carr and Nelson DeMille. Follow him on X: @awrhawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.