• We are now running on a new, and hopefully much-improved, server. In addition we are also on new forum software. Any move entails a lot of technical details and I suspect we will encounter a few issues as the new server goes live. Please be patient with us. It will be worth it! :) Please help by posting all issues here.
  • The forum will be down for about an hour this weekend for maintenance. I apologize for the inconvenience.
  • If you are having trouble seeing the forum then you may need to clear your browser's DNS cache. Click here for instructions on how to do that
  • Please review the Forum Rules frequently as we are constantly trying to improve the forum for our members and visitors.

Open Carry without permit

b1ack5mith

Regular Member
Joined
Jul 13, 2007
Messages
1,146
Location
Payson, Utah, USA
imported post

utbagpiper wrote:
Utah law has been recently updated on the possession of a gun in a vehicle. See 76-10-504 and 76-10-505 at <http://www.le.state.ut.us/UtahCode/section.jsp?code=76-10>.

So long as you are over 18 and not a prohibited person, you can legally have a loaded and/or concealed handgun in a private vehicle. A long gun may be concealed but must "Utah unloaded" unless you have a permit.

The moment you step out of your car onto public property (generally also including private business property generally open to the public) anywhere "civilized" (as opposed to being out in the wild), the gun must not be concealed and must not be "loaded" unless you have a permit. It is also illegal under federal and State gun free school zone laws to have a gun with 1000' of any school unless you have a permit. State law allows you to have the gun in your vehicle (but not outside the vehicle) even within a school zone. Federal law requires the gun to be fully unloaded and locked up in the car to be transported through the school. State law includes pre-schools, day cares, and all institutions of higher ed including colleges, universities, and trade and vocational schools (including that teaching beauty shop in the strip mall). State law also includes any area (like a park or museum) currently being used for a school activity as being a school zone.

Holding a Utah concealed carry permit exempts a person from all these gun free school zones.

Some day I'm going to try to put together a map of SL County showing all the gun free school zones. I'm guessing it ends up showing it is virtually impossible to carry a gun legally without a permit.

Others here will post some great references. I suggest reading the actual State laws (easy to find from the link I gave you), plus Vilos' excellent book, "Utah gun laws: The good, the bad, and the ugly".

I also highly recommend taking a concealed carry permit course and then getting a permit. The school zone thing alone makes it well worth while.

None of this is legal advice, your mileage may vary, and other usual disclaimers.

Charles
waiiiit a minute, you make it sound like we can conceal while in the wilderness... without a permit...
 

rpyne

Regular Member
Joined
Oct 23, 2007
Messages
1,072
Location
Provo, Utah, USA
imported post

b1ack5mith wrote:
waiiiit a minute, you make it sound like we can conceal while in the wilderness... without a permit...
That depends on what you are doing. If you are hunting and carrying a concealed firearm with at least a four inch barrel you are covered by:

76-10-504. Carrying concealed dangerous weapon -- Penalties.
(1) Except as provided in Section 76-10-503 and in Subsections (2), (3) and (4), a person who carries a concealed dangerous weapon, as defined in Section 76-10-501, including an unloaded firearm on his or her person or one that is readily accessible for immediate use which is not securely encased, as defined in this part, in or on a place other than the person's residence, property, a vehicle in the person's lawful possession, or a vehicle, with the consent of the individual who is lawfully in possession of the vehicle, or business under [his] the person's control is guilty of a class B misdemeanor
(2) A person who carries a concealed dangerous weapon which is a loaded firearm in violation of Subsection (1) is guilty of a class A misdemeanor.
(3) A person who carries concealed a sawed-off shotgun or a sawed-off rifle is guilty of a second degree felony.
(4) If the concealed firearm is used in the commission of a violent felony as defined in Section 76-3-203.5, and the person is a party to the offense, the person is guilty of a second degree felony.
(5) Nothing in Subsection (1) or (2) shall prohibit a person engaged in the lawful taking of protected or unprotected wildlife as defined in Title 23, Wildlife Resources Code, from carrying a concealed weapon or a concealed firearm with a barrel length of four inches or greater as long as the taking of wildlife does not occur:
(a) within the limits of a municipality in violation of that municipality's ordinances; or
(b) upon the highways of the state as defined in Section 41-6a-102.
 

aadvark

Regular Member
Joined
Aug 25, 2009
Messages
1,597
Location
, ,
imported post

In Utah, you may openly carry a Firearm so as long as it is visible and it is unloaded.

The term 'Unloaded' means that the Firearm does not have a live round of ammunition chambered into the barrel, racked into the firing position, or primed to fire, where the safety is disengaged, that the Firearm can readily be discharged by only a manual pull of the trigger without any further action.

In essecense, the Firearm in question must be at least two actions away from firing.

However, ifyou have a permit, neither of the provisions of the latter apply to you.

You may carry a Firearm in Utah in this way in public or any public place.
 
Top