Governor signs permit-less concealed carry bill into law
SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — Gov. Spencer Cox signed five bills into law on Friday, including a bill that would make it legal to concealed carry a gun in Utah without a permit.
House Bill 60 was sponsored by Rep. Walt Brooks (R-St. George).
The bill specifies that those who carry concealed weapons must be over 21 and be legally allowed to possess a firearm.
"We need to get back to trusting law-abiding citizens, and get rid of these regulations that are not doing any good," Brooks previously told 2News.
An amendment to the bill means that leftover money from the state's "concealed weapons account" will go toward suicide prevention and education about safe firearm storage.
It was opposed by advocacy groups including Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action, as well as the Utah Gun Violence Prevention Center.
The center argued that in other states where similar laws were passed, violent crime increased, citing statistics from Arizona and Missouri. A petition calling on Cox to veto the legislation had 1,610 signatures as of 5:30 p.m. Friday.
The National Association for Gun Rights celebrated Cox's action on Friday, saying "Utahns are getting the Second Amendment rights the founders intended."
"Constitutional Carry is the simple concept that law-abiding citizens who are legally allowed to possess a handgun, should also be allowed to carry that handgun openly, or concealed, without having to pay a tax or obtain a government permit," the association wrote.
A statement from the governor's office regarding the legislation read, “With the passage of this bill, Utah joins 17 other states with some form of permitless concealed carry. This bill protects Second Amendment rights, reduces permitless open carry (which is already legal), and includes significant funding for suicide prevention.”
The new law goes into effect on May 5.
Gov. Cox also signed:
2News reporter Daniel Woodruff contributed to this report.
