Are guns and cars a good mix?By Holly Mullen
First off, this won't be one of those "blood in the streets scenarios," which the gun lovers who visited the Legislature on Wednesday are expecting.
They used that characterization three times, referring to people who question the wisdom of a proposal to allow citizens to carry a loaded firearm in their vehicles without a concealed-weapon permit.
There are those who oppose the idea for various reasons, many of them quite logical. I happen to know several cops who cringe at the thought. But no police or prosecutors were invited to testify before the committee.
I don't want to be painted as a screaming crazy so I won't go all hyperbolic on the pro-gun folks. I'm not going to go off on a riff about how decriminalizing carrying a loaded weapon in your vehicle is a bad notion. I don't want to get carried away and ask why the Legislature would possibly be interested in endangering the safety of drivers, their passengers and all the other unsuspecting people who share the highways by making it easier than ever for people to tote guns and rifles in their vehicles.
Funny thing is, this is one of the reasons police, sheriffs and most other law enforcement agencies decided against endorsing the bill last year. Sponsor Sen. Mark Madsen, R-Lehi, is reintroducing it because he says current statute "puts law abiding citizens at a disadvantage when confronted by a violent criminal."
True enough. Three tons of steel and glass cruising at 80 mph on I-15, its operator balancing a cell phone in one hand and a Big Gulp in the other, isn't risky enough. Ammo power would make it all the better.
I asked Madsen if he felt it necessary to garner support from the state's law enforcement agencies to pass his bill. "I would rather do it that way," he said, but I don't think it's critical. There are some who support it and some who don't. They may just stand down on it."
Ken Wallentine, a lobbyist for 10 of the state's biggest law enforcement associations, including Chiefs of Police, Utah Sheriff's Association and the Statewide Association of Prosecutors, said his clients are meeting on Nov. 16 to hammer out positions on several bills, including Madsen's. "We don't have a position yet."
Rep. Pat Jones, D-Holladay, logically asked why the presentation was so one-sided, why others who have a stake in public safety and child welfare weren't asked to speak. There were no PTA representatives, no parents testifying to any concerns they might have. She noted that perhaps not surprisingly, many women feel much differently toward gun control from the way men do. Where were their voices?
"I don't feel I've heard from the public, and I'd like to," she said, explaining why she would vote against moving the bill forward. She was joined by Rep. David Litvack, D-Salt Lake City. Then she added: "But I'm in the minority minority."
Translation: A Democrat and the lone female on the 10-member panel.
But hers were pesky questions about inclusion and process.
No time for that.
http://www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_3200172.
