A Republican legislator who has pushed for laxer gun laws in Utah has surprisingly changed direction with his latest bill: He’s now moving to ban open carry at the state’s public college campuses.
That would be a significant change after the state’s loose restrictions drew attention following the shooting death of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University in September.
Rep. Walt Brooks, who represents St. George and whose legislative biography notes he is a member of the National Rifle Association, announced his significant about-face on HB84 during a committee meeting late last week.
“Open carrying does cause a lot of concern with a lot of people, especially on campuses,” he said during a hearing on his measure before the House Public Utilities and Energy Committee. “Working with the higher education commissioner, we removed that piece.”
Originally, Brooks had drafted his bill to make it clear in state law that both open carry and concealed carry are legal at Utah’s eight public colleges and universities.
He did that after an effort to recodify the law last year caused confusion, with some thinking the law now prohibited open carry on college campuses and others, including the University of Utah, telling their campus communities that open carry was allowed for the first time.
Neither is correct. Open carrying on Utah’s campuses has been legal since 2021, under a bill also sponsored by Brooks at the time. It made Utah a “constitutional carry” state, allowing residents 21 years or older to carry a weapon — either openly or concealed — without a permit or background check in most places. That includes rifles, shotguns and handguns.
On public higher education campuses, there has been one small restriction: A Utah concealed carry permit is required to open carry.
Read Courtney Tanner's full story at sltrib.com.
This article is published through the Utah News Collaborative, a partnership of news organizations in Utah that aims to inform readers across the state.