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A gun law change to lower Utah’s open carry age to 18 is on the table

House Majority Whip Karianne Lisonbee (right) listens during public comment on her bill in the House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee at the Utah State Capitol, Jan. 24, 2025. Several community members and medical professionals opposed the part of her bill that would lower the open carry age to 18.
Martha Harris
/
KUER
House Majority Whip Karianne Lisonbee (right) listens during public comment on her bill in the House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee at the Utah State Capitol, Jan. 24, 2025. Several community members and medical professionals opposed the part of her bill that would lower the open carry age to 18.

A gun bill that, among other things, would lower Utah’s open carry age to 18, easily cleared its first hurdle in the Legislature. While there was little discussion from lawmakers, medical professionals and community members who addressed the committee were not happy about the potential change.

The text of House Majority Whip Karianne Lisonbee’s bill is almost 9,000 lines long. She told a Jan. 24 House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee hearing that most of the changes in HB133 are technical and seek to clarify the law. It does, however, include some substantive changes.

The change that drew the most pushback was lowering the age requirement for Utahns to openly carry a firearm. Currently, 18-to-20-year-olds can carry a concealed gun if they have a Provisional Concealed Firearm Permit. To openly carry in public places, they need to be at least 21 years old.

“If you oppose this bill, you are not prohibiting carry by 18-to-21-year-olds in Utah,” Lisonbee said. “The current law already allows 18-year-olds to carry concealed with the permit, but also openly in their car and in their residence.”

Additionally, she argued there is an argument under a 2021 U.S. Supreme Court Case that banning 18-to-20-year-olds from openly carrying is unconstitutional. She presented a version of this bill in September during the interim session.

During public comment, several people, some of who said they were firearm owners, said they were not comfortable with teenagers being able to openly carry. They strongly opposed the bill for that reason.

“As a gun owner, I firmly believe in the right to responsible firearm ownership. I'm not an advocate for taking guns away from responsible citizens,” said Chance Basinger, a pediatric trauma physician assistant, who addressed lawmakers as a representative of the Utah chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

“However, the proposed revision to this legislation poses a serious risk to public health and safety, particularly for our youth.”

The parts of the brain responsible for judgment and impulse control, Basinger said, are not fully developed until a person is in their mid-20s. Prior to that age, he said young adults are more impulsive and make bad decisions.

“I have witnessed firsthand the devastating consequences of an impulsive decision made by a teenager or young adult with access to a firearm, nearly every week in my work,” Basinger said.

Dave Morris, a trauma surgeon in Murray, was another gun owner and medical professional who spoke in opposition.

“Something that we know from suicide studies is that the decision is almost always an impulsive act. And if you can delay somebody even five minutes, many of them will think better of that decision and move away from that irreversible decision,” Morris said. “Any space that we can add between the impulsive decision of an 18-year-old, immature brain and an irreversible act will be better.”

Several parents and community members said they’d be scared to be in public spaces where 18-year-olds were openly carrying a firearm. The Gun Violence Prevention Center of Utah is also opposed.

Proponents argued, as Lisonbee also pointed out, that it's a minor change since this age group can already conceal carry with a permit.

“The only difference between open and closed carry is effectively style,” said former state Rep. Tim Jimenez. “In the summer it's a little bit warm in the state of Utah. You shouldn't have to wear a jacket just to be able to protect your Second Amendment rights.”

Representatives from the Utah Shooting Sports Council and Women for Gun Rights also support the bill.

After listening to public comment, only one lawmaker, Republican Rep. Melissa Ballard, spoke before the committee advanced the bill on an 8-to-1 vote. Rep. Sandra Hollins, the only Democrat who was present, voted against it.

The bill now heads to the full House for debate.

Martha is KUER’s education reporter.
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