Any one of the three conditions of UC 76-10-502 which is
not met puts the
non-permitted OC'er on the wrong side of the law as it is written. The absence of all-encompassing specificity is not especially surprising, considering that
across the country laws are written primarily by lawyers (most legislatures are composed primarily of lawyers, as is our Congress) without consulting acknowledged "firearms experts" (gunsmiths and people
like Massad Ayoob). OTOH, the more words that are used, the more obscure the intended meaning becomes. If the Utah Legislature was to try to list all the exceptions and inclusions presented by all our... let's say
modern day handguns (and define those simply as any firearm using smokeless powder for propellent)... 76-10-502 would probably be 3 pages long by itself! Simplify, simplify, simplify... that's how we make written communications -
not just laws - understandable. But, if We the People could actually understand the laws without the assistance of a lawyer, they would be writing themselves out of some money-making opportunities.
For the purpose of this new discussion, let's ignore UC 76-10-502(3)
completely, since I seriously doubt that anybody in OCDO is OC'ing a BP pistol as their EDCWOC for s/d. Let us focus on (1) and just mention (2) (which is almost a repetition of (1)
except for the final phrase -
"...whereby the manual operation of any mechanism once would cause the unexpended cartridge, shell, or projectile to be fired." There, (2) has been mentioned.
TigerLily's stated concern was - "According to your page:
http://www.opencarry.org/?page_id=103 Utah requires a permit to o.c. Did something change? Or am I misunderstanding the chart?" The answer to her question is No, No... and Yes. No, Utah
does not require a permit to OC; no, nothing has changed in that regard, and yes, you did misunderstand the chart
under Utah law. The legend for the chart is titled "Open Carry of A Loaded Gun", and since UC76-10-502 declares: "When weapon deemed loaded. (1) For the purpose of this chapter,
any pistol, revolver, shotgun, rifle, or other weapon described in this part shall be deemed to be loaded when there is an unexpended cartridge, shell, or projectile in the firing position." Inasmuch as the
Utah Unloaded condition is unusual in that it
only applies to OC by those
without a valid, recognized permit, and defines unloaded as requiring "two or more mechanical actions" to discharge a pistol/revolver, there can be
no round chambered REGARDLESS of the number of mechanical actions it may take to cause it to discharge. If there is a round
in the chamber it IS in the firing
position.
You are correct in that our law -
as written - is beyond "clumsy"... it borders on
crippled! But, as
insufficient and
vague as it may be, it is
much better than the laws that say "Open carry of handguns in public is forbidden." I can give our legislature credit for their attempt, but they get "no cigar". Pax...