@ Iowa Farmboy - You are entirely free to spend the $15 to renew your UT permit or not, or to cast aside your investment in your UT training and permit and spend more money to get another permit to supplement your IA permit "as a matter of principle".
The way things are going it is my belief that by the time my Utah permit expires I will not need a permit to supplement my Iowa permit. At the time I applied for the Utah permit the shall issue law in Iowa was not even being debated. Now that I have an Iowa permit, which is recognized in 25 states (give or take, I'm not good at math), I 'm doubting the need for another. At the time, though, my choices were limited. Now my choices are greater, as they are for the residents of Wisconsin. Utah is not the "gold standard" it used to be.
The residents of Wisconsin need to take this into the computation of their costs. There is a growing movement in Wisconsin to have a constitutionally protected right to carry a concealed weapon. This may take the form of a court ruling or new legislation. If they choose to invest in the Utah permit now then they will have to do so knowing that even though a Wisconsin permit is not required to carry in their own state the Utah home state requirement will still likely be there. That means paying the renewal costs for both a Wisconsin permit AND the Utah permit when there is the option to get only the Minnesota permit.
I'm just giving fair warning. I was working on only the information I had at the time when I applied for my Utah permit. Had I known then what I know now I would have taken the extra cost and effort needed to obtain a Minnesota permit, or an Iowa permit (the law did allow me to get an Iowa permit then but the training costs imposed by the sheriff at the time were considerably more than any other permit), or the Arizona permit.
I personally did not agree with the UT legislature's capitulation to TX, but I believe their motivation was to make the UT permit good for reciprocity in as many States as possible. It was apparent to the UT legislature, as well as to myself and my fellow Utah Citizens, that had Utah not capitulated, we would all have to get a TX non-resident permit to carry in TX. As a UT resident who does not want to be "taxed" any more than is necessary, and, since TX did not appear to be willing to do the "right thing" and change their laws, the actions taken by UT were the best thing for UT Citizens.
I know the history behind the Utah decision to change the law, I just don't understand it. Utah felt pressured to change their law for some reason. I just don't understand why the recognition of Texas, a state that they don't even share a border with, was so important to them.
As an IA citizen you are entirely free to criticize this and to spend more for a MN permit. It is your choice and your money.
Yes, I do have the freedom to criticize. I offer my own experience with the Utah permit as a warning to Wisconsin residents. There are a number of states that are threatening to drop recognition of the Utah permit. I do not know if Minnesota is among them. If the desire is to have a permit to carry in Minnesota then I am merely suggesting to Wisconsin residents to get the Minnesota permit. This should remove most concerns about law changes in Utah or Minnesota affecting the future recognition of the permit. This does involve a bit more effort (since the process in Minnesota is a bit more complex) and a bit more cost (since the Minnesota permit fees are a bit higher) but the peace of mind should be worth something.
My suggestions to Wisconsinites depends on the time frame they are working under. If you want to get the privilege to carry weapons in Minnesota quickly then the Utah permit may be the best choice. Time is running out, if you wait for the Wisconsin permitting law to go into effect then the process becomes much longer as you will have to wait for Wisconsin to issue your permit first before you can even apply for the Utah permit.
If time is not too critical then it may be worth it to take the time to do more research, find the right instructor, and take the right class. It should not be too difficult to find someone offering a course that satisfies Minnesota, Utah, Florida, and Wisconsin permit requirements. If you can get into that class within the timeframe and budget that suits you then I can highly suggest that path. Then you will have the time to decide which permit or permits you will want based on the states you plan to visit.
If one is taking the longer view, and/or money is a bit tight right now, then I'd suggest waiting. See how the Wisconsin laws work out. See what happens with the Minnesota recognition of permits. I don't know how Minnesota decides what permits to honor but there may be the chance that the Wisconsin permit is all you may need.
Had the timing worked out differently for me there is a very good chance I would not have even considered a Utah permit. If that was the case then I would not have the bitter feelings I do now about the law changes in Utah. Now that Utah has shown itself to be willing to toss non-residents under the bus to preserve their own convenience it makes me wonder what else they might do in the next five years or so. If residents of Wisconsin want to carry in Minnesota then it is probably in their best interest, in the long term, to get a permit from Minnesota.
That's just the advice from an Iowa farmboy, and worth every cent you paid for it.
