In a prime example of shlock reporting, KSL News has managed to screw up a simple story. They talked to a 3 people in putting this story together. 1. Another KSL Reporter. 2. Some dude from back east. 3. An Anti-Gun Reporter named Gunn. They didn’t talk to anyone else in Utah… like Utah Gun Owners. They could have gone to any of the Dealers in Utah, talked to some Utah Instructors… But they didn’t. It’s as if they wanted to keep distance from the topic as much as possible. The other thing that bugs me… KSL has called Utah, “Gun Land“. This is a tag I’ve never heard. So I did a search and the only reference to Gun Land, other than the Deseret News bit that was mentioned, was another article… this time from the SLC Tribune Blog, in an Opinion Piece.
I’ll give Utah credit for being more gun friendly less restrictive of freedom than other states… But Utah still has some gun laws that make no sense. For example, you can carry Open. But the gun must be unloaded. Cops in SLC will give you a flying tackle and point their loaded weapons at you – probably charge you with something or make you otherwise leave – but you are legal to carry. That sounds great, doesn’t it? Oh, but if you do have a Concealed Carry Permit – then you can carry your gun openly and loaded as it should be. Unless you are out Hunting. Then it has to be concealed because, you know… if you are out during bow season with your 1500 dollar Hoyt bow set up, and you stalk a big Mule Deer to get within range… You just might forget what you are doing and pull your 500 dollar Glock 9mm and bust a cap in that venison instead of lancing it through with a Razor Cap Broadhead.
Why would the reporter care enough to include Mr. Gunn’s “I don’t think it’s healthy” comment but not get some information from the majority of Utahns that do support the Second Amendment? And that guy from out of State, that was a Skype Interview. WTF, I bet this Reporter didn’t even leave the floor of the KSL building to do this story.
This was very poor reporting. No effort was put into it. No mention that there are now 2 or 3 other states working on their own State Guns? No? But she led off the report mentioning that we have a State Gun. Or was this story about Out of State Permit Holders? No mention that people also go for Florida and other states Permits? And what about questioning the fact that people have to have a Permit to exercise a Right? I don’t need a Permit to exercise my 1st Amendment Right to Free Speech. Do I need a Permit for the 3rd Amendment to keep the National Guard out of my Living Room?
Hold on a Second… “Sargent, please… put my wife’s Sunday Dress back in the closet… No, I don’t think it’s your color. Hey, Private, muddy boots off the Table, please. Thank you!”
I can understand the Permit required for a Privilege. Such as Driving. There is no Right to Drive a Car on a public road. That’s a Privilege granted by the State. But the RIGHT to keep and BEAR arms is not a Privilege, but people insist on treating it as such. Utah is strict on the non official policy of keeping guns out of sight. We have many confusing and restrictive laws. Utah is not Gun Land by any means.
How about looking at States that allow it’s Citizens to carry concealed With Out a Permit? Vermont? Alaska? The have what is called “Constitutional Carry”. Something that Utah needs. Such a concept wasn’t mentioned in the news report. I guess they didn’t want to tarnish Utah’s Gun Land Mojo that they have invented and are trying to promote.
I think Wyoming might have also recently moved to a no permit required system as well. I’m not totally sure on that though.
Wyoming did pass that. Of course, Wyoming does not exactly have good gun laws. You have to be over 21 to carry, and there’s an extensive list of off-limits places – according to the NRA-ILA: police stations, any government meeting (from town committees, on up to the legislature), any athletic event, bars, churches of any sort, and all schools (including colleges/universities).
Vermont, Alaska, Arizona, and Wyoming. Just passed the House here in NH, then on to the Senate, which should be a slam-dunk. The only problem we’ve had, here, is that the existing licenses were so trivial to obtain (two dollars and fifty cents per year, no fingerprints, no photo – takes less time to fill out than an application for a pre-approved credit card), that we were never able to get enough folks to complain enough to get it passed.
Oddly enough, some of the libertarian activists that moved here as part of the Free State Project started carrying openly all the time because they refused to get licenses to exercise their rights. Thanks to them annoying the anti-gun folks enough, we were able to get the bill through, since “then they can conceal, and you won’t have to look at guns everywhere.” So, definitely work on the open carry thing – once the anti-gunners see guns everywhere, they’re more likely to be open to making concealment easier…
Alaska is working on or has passed a bill for a state gun. The pre-’64 Winchester model 70 in .30-’06
This was very poor reporting.
You have a gift for understatement. The only reason (and I use that term very loosely) for their shame is how we are perceived. How about the Constitution? How about Utah’s crime rate?
No, no, don’t look at any of that. Just whine that your left-leaning sensibilities are offended by what you think is Utah’s image. Don’t worry about freedom or saving lives.
Wrong, Ogre.
Using a public road to move yourself and your goods has traditionally been a right of any citizen.
Allowing the state to license the use of autos just because they were a new thing was a big freaking mistake.
Strictly enforcing liability for damage ( insurance companies would demand training ) , and having zero tolerance for criminal negligence caused by driving ( you killed someone while driving drunk … no we are not going to send out a cop to prevent her relatives from hanging you ) would have been a better method of preventing idiot driving.
You try driving on any public street… and explain to the Officer why you don’t have your Driver’s License. See how well that works out for you. Tradition or not – Driving is a Privilege, not a Right.
Arizona was the third state to allow conceal carry without a permit last summer and since then we have passed a series of gun friendly laws that have made us arguably the most open and gun friendly state in the union. We can now carry in most places and some new places you couldn`t before but now can like bars, town and legislative meetings, courthouses and govt buildings, you can carry almost anywhere except schools and that may soon change. There is alot of both open and conceal carry down here and the cops for the most part except that and even enourage it because they see the benifit of it and respect peoples rights, many of them are also gun people, there is basicly no restriction on carry outdoors for hunting, hiking, camping, etc so no problem there. And we just made our state gun the colt single action army the gun of Arizona, so if someone is looking for a good gun state, were pretty good.