Utah gun laws are considered some of the more permissive in the country. The state’s dearth of legislation on firearm regulations is intended to protect citizen’s Second Amendment rights. Utah's towns and cities are strictly bound to be uniform with state legislation, which ranked Utah as the lowest among all 50 states in the category of gun control legislation, according to a 2013 study by
Journal of American Medical Association Internal Medicine.
According to Utah code:
"All authority to regulate firearms is reserved to the state except where the Legislature specifically delegates responsibility to local authorities or state entities."
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When Park City enacted its own regulations that exceeded the reach of state laws, a Second Amendment advocacy group was quick to call them on it. Eventually, city officials voted to repeal the measures.
The Second Amendment Foundation, an organization “dedicated to promoting a better understanding about our constitutional heritage to privately own and possess firearms,” compelled Park City, Utah,
to roll back firearms regulations that run afoul of state law and the Constitution.
“We’re delighted that officials in Park City unanimously approved repealing the conflicting regulations,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan Gottlieb, in their Novermber 2013 newsletter. “If gun owners are expected to always comply with the letter of the law, so should government. In this case, the conflicts were pretty clear.”
The release cited four City Hall regulations that did not follow the state laws: a prohibition on the use and possession of firearms, the carrying of concealed weapons, carrying a loaded gun inside a vehicle or in a street or in a posted area where guns are prohibited, and a prohibition on someone drawing or showing a gun in “an angry or threatening manner,” which prevented displaying a firearm in self-defense without actually firing the gun.
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“Our effort started in early July,” Gottlieb said in the release. “SAF sent the city a letter detailing the problems with their existing regulations. Although it took the city almost five months to bring its ordinances into compliance, we’re glad this didn’t require further action.”
The SAF had cautioned the city that failure to bring the code into compliance with state law puts Park City at risk for a lawsuit.
“This project is part of our larger overall effort to win firearms freedom one lawsuit at a time,” Gottlieb said. “Fortunately, under this program, lawsuits haven’t been necessary and that’s the way it ought to be.”
However, in 2013, Spring City, a rural town in central Utah, passed an ordinance without much opposition that "encourages" all its residents to own a firearm,
according to the Los Angeles Times.
This article does not constitute legal advice. Check the current gun laws before purchasing or traveling with a firearm.
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