Just drafting a loaded-gun proposal ignites controversy

By Lisa Riley Roche
Deseret Morning News
Published: Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2005 8:47 p.m. MST
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The sponsor of a bill that would allow Utahns to carry loaded guns in their cars without a concealed weapons permit said Wednesday he was surprised by how much attention his proposal was already attracting.

"There's been a lot of media response," Sen. Mark Madsen, R-Lehi, told reporters questioning him about SB175, a bill that is still being drafted. "Guessing as how this firestorm is about to burn, I'll get more feedback."

Madsen may not like what he hears about his proposal, first reported by the Deseret Morning News on Tuesday. The Utah Department of Public Safety has already come out against the bill.

"From a public safety and a law enforcement aspect, it just doesn't make any sense to us. We can't see how that's going to enhance public safety," Sgt. Wade Breur, the department's spokesman, said.

Breur said there is concern that criminals could not be prosecuted under the proposal for carrying weapons in their vehicles. "It just gives us one less tool to prosecute that person who's committing a crime," he said. "We do not like it. It's not good legislation."

Madsen also has yet to talk with legislative leaders, who were surprised that any gun-related legislation surfaced this session. The issue has dominated past sessions and lead to ongoing court battles.

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Rep. Curt Oda, R-Clearfield, has introduced a gun-related bill. But Oda said his bill, HB276, is only a technical change to the concealed weapons permit law. He said he was aware of another bill being drafted by a House member to resolve the issue surrounding a concealed weapons permit holder whose employer banned him from having a gun in his car at work.

Oda, the president of the Concealed Weapons Permit Holders Association, said he wasn't sure how successful Madsen's proposed legislation would be. "It's hard to say," Oda said. "I think its intent is admirable."

Madsen is tackling a major change in the law — one he'll have to explain to legislative leaders. "I do want to meet with Sen. Madsen," Senate President John Valentine, R-Orem, said. "I want to see what he's trying to accomplish there." Sen. Mike Waddoups, R-West Jordan, the Legislature's chief gun rights advocate, called Madsen's bill "a good issue. . . . I think he'll do well." Waddoups declined, however, to predict what would happen to the bill. "The real issue, I don't think, is whether they should be allowed to or not. It would be more, is it safe. That's why we have a permit system, is so they have some training, so they have some knowledge of what the law is on how to use that deadly force," Waddoups said. Opponents of Madsen's proposal have already raised concerns about the affecteffect allowing loaded guns in vehicles might have on road rage incidents, as well as about the safety of children riding along. The National Rifle Association has pledged support for it.

Madsen, an attorney for Utah Jazz owner Larry Miller, said he wants to make it legal for Utahns who don't have a concealed weapons permit to carry loaded guns in their vehicles so they'll be ready "if they have a need to defend themselves."

He said he is still deciding whether the bill would apply only to handguns, which he said are the best for self-protection in that situation, or to rifles and other long-barreled weapons as well.

"I'm inclined to rely on the common sense and conscientiousness of the citizens," Madsen said.

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