The Price City Police Department joined the chorus of voices that encouraged Utah Governor Gary Hebert to veto HB 76 or the concealed weapons carry amendment.
Price Police Chief Kevin Drolc released a copy of the letter that the department sent to the Herbert back on March 14. Drolc said that due to time constraints he used a boilerplate letter provided by the Utah League of Cities and Towns and made a few modifications before sending it off.
The letter stated the department stands with the Utah League of Cities and Towns, the Utah Chiefs of Police Association, and the Law Enforcement Legislative Committee in opposition to HB 76 and encouraged Herbert to veto the bill.
The letter stated that HB 76 represented a drastic change to Utah’s concealed carryВ permittingВ process that has been fair for the public, public safety, and concealed carry permit holders.
The letter went on to state that the current carry permitting process, Utah Code Ann 53-5-704 & (3), allows for screening of persons to assure they have not been convicted of: a misdemeanor crime of violence other than domestic violence; an offense involving use of alcohol; a misdemeanor offense involving moral turpitude.
Additionally, a person may be disqualified from a permit for behaviorВ demonstratingВ a danger to himself or others by a past pattern of behavior involving unlawful violence, threats of unlawful violence, or misdemeanor violations of state weapons law.
HB 76 would allow any person over the age of 21 to carry a concealed firearmВ regardlessВ of those convictions. Worries that the potential enactment of the bill would abridge the ability of public safety officers from responding to the concerns of residents and businesses.
In the end Hebert did veto the bill. Though it can be over ridden by the Utah Legislature, the current political buzz is that legislators will most likely notВ challengeВ Herbert on the matter.