Republican lawmakers in Utah shoot down bill to stop people from carrying weapons near schools: repo

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Raw Story

CHARLIE AMTER
06 MAR 2019 AT 22:41 ET

A proposed bill that would have forbidden Utah residents from openly carrying firearms within 500 feet of any K-12 school in the state was defeated in committee this week after complaints from gun lobbyists and Republican lawmakers, the Salt Lake Tribune reported Wednesday.

“It would punish hunters, one man argued,” the Tribune said of an excuse offered by a Republican lawmaker. “It would put more restrictions on law-abiding gun owners than convicted sex offenders, said another….it wouldn’t stop a would-be school shooter anyway, suggested a third,” the newspaper wrote Wednesday.

“There will be people in violation every day,” Utah was quoted as saying by the Tribune.

The proposed legislation would have “exempted open carry within the gun-free zone by people who live or work within 500 feet of a school or have a gun in their car as they drive through one, especially when picking up or dropping off a student for class,” the Tribune noted.

Read more: https://www.rawstory.com/2019/03/republican-lawmakers-utah-shoot-bill-stop-people-carrying-weapons-near-schools-report/?utm_source=push_notifications

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1 of every 4 bills in Legislature poses potential conflict-of-interest for sponsors

Another day, GOP Rep. Lee Perry, a Utah Highway Patrol lieutenant, fought elimination of vehicle inspections in the state — telling horror stories about crashes he saw with uninspected, out-of-state cars. Still, the bill passed 45-29.

More:
https://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=4991476&itype=CMSID

[msongs]

1. so hunting school students is now legal in Utah. gun rights trump dead kids. nt

[Judi Lynn]

2. Don't want to inconvenience any gun humpers. n/t

[50 Shades Of Blue]

3. These sellouts would sacrifice their own children to appease the gun zombies

[sinkingfeeling]

4. Glad I saw a bit of Utah decades ago. I didn't get to SLC, but

will scratch the state off my list of ever visiting again.

[Baconator]

5. What would the bill have accomplished?

[LanternWaste]

6. What does openly carrying firearms within 500 feet of a grade school accomplish?

(answer to your query is oddly enough, found within the body of the story. Imagine that... )

[Baconator]

7. Ahhh... I see it now... psychological security...

Security theater at it's finest...

[ScratchCat]

8. Does Utah have a problem

with people carrying a gun within 500 feet of a school? Not likely. So who was this supposed to affect? Not people intent on committing a crime, I assure you.

This is the problem with many gun laws proposed - they have no practical way of affecting criminal use of firearms. "On the No Fly list = No Gun Purchase" - that makes sense. Republicans should be ashamed for opposing that. Having the NCIC database cross-reference with a database of people judged mentally unfit - sure, that makes perfect sense to! There is also an honest debate as to whether people should own "weapons of war" capable of killing scores of people. We need that debate. But continuously proposing gun laws that demonstrably wont affect criminal misuse of guns is one of the Democrats biggest problems in attracting a plurality of Americans to the party. These "symbolic" laws are prime examples.

[Flyboy_451]

9. Simple things like

Allows people who live across the street to transport a firearm from their home to their vehicle and vice-Versa.