Utah: Open carry is not Disorderly Conduct

By Dean Weingarten

Utah State Capitol
Utah State Capitol
Dean Weingarten
Dean Weingarten

Arizona – -(Ammoland.com)- There has been an ongoing debate in the Utah legislature about the open carry of firearms.   Some people have been arrested for openly carrying holstered firearms.

Open carry is legal in Utah.  The charge has been, as it was in Wisconsin five years ago, “Disorderly Conduct“.

Disorderly conduct tends to be a catchall phrase that is used to crack down on conduct that is not illegal, but that the police disapprove of.  Being arrested can be a significant punishment.   The Wisconsin AG eventually ruled that openly carrying a firearm is *not* disorderly conduct by itself.   Police departments paid out several settlements to people that they had charged with disorderly conduct.

Wisconsin then passed a shall issue law for concealed carry, one of the least restrictive in the nation.  As part of that law, the legislature clarified, in statute, that openly carrying a gun was *not* disorderly conduct.    From Wisconsin ACT 35:

35,21

66.0409 (6) Unless other facts and circumstances that indicate a criminal or malicious intent on the part of the person apply, no person may be in violation of, or be charged with a violation of, an ordinance of a political subdivision relating to disorderly conduct or other inappropriate behavior for loading, carrying, or going armed with a firearm, without regard to whether the firearm is loaded or is concealed or openly carried. Any ordinance in violation of this subsection does not apply

The State of Utah enacted its shall issue law long before Wisconsin.  It had state constitutional protection of the right to keep and bear arms long before Wisconsin.   It lacked statutory protection of open carry.   The bill that passed the legislature on 13 March, to clarify that open carry is not disorderly conduct, moves Utah toward a Wisconsin level of protection of the right to keep and bear arms.

Here is the Wisconsin Constitutional provision:

Article I, Section 25
The people have the right to keep and bear arms for security, defense, hunting, recreation or any other lawful purpose.

Here is the Utah Constitutional provision:

Article I, Section 6
The individual right of the people to keep and bear arms for security and defense of self, family, others, property, or the state, as well as for other lawful purposes shall not be infringed; but nothing herein shall prevent the legislature from defining the lawful use of arms.

The Wisconsin provision, passed in 1998, is more protective, it does not carve out an exemption for the legislature to define what is lawful and what is not.

Here is the Utah wording to clarify that open carry is not disorderly conduct.  Utah bill HB0276:

             43          (3) The mere carrying or possession of a holstered or encased firearm, whether visible
44      or concealed, without additional behavior or circumstances that would cause a reasonable
45      person to believe the holstered or encased firearm was carried or possessed S. [ unlawfully or ] .S
45a      with
46      criminal intent, does not constitute a violation of this section. S. [ For purposes of this section, the
             47      belief of a reasonable person may not be based on a mistake of law. ] .S Nothing in this Subsection
48      (3) may limit or prohibit a law enforcement officer from approaching or engaging any person in
49      a voluntary conversation.

The reform is now headed to Governor Gary Herbert’s desk.   Governor Herbert vetoed a constitutional carry bill in September of 2013.    Governor Herbert has 10 days, not counting the day he receives the bill or Sundays, to sign or veto the bill.  If he does not veto it during that period, it becomes law.  If the legislature adjourns before the law is signed, and it is not vetoed, it becomes law 20 days after adjournment.

c2014 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included. Link to Gun Watch

About Dean Weingarten;

Dean Weingarten has been a peace officer, a military officer, was on the University of Wisconsin Pistol Team for four years, and was first certified to teach firearms safety in 1973. He taught the Arizona concealed carry course for fifteen years until the goal of constitutional carry was attained. He has degrees in meteorology and mining engineering, and recently retired from the Department of Defense after a 30 year career in Army Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation.

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Tom

2 Actions means the Bad guy can put 2 rounds in you before you fire.. May as well carry a club, and shield in that holster, as it will be far more effective.. That is the Stupidest rule I ever heard of.. Refusing to allow open carry would make more sense, although that would be illegal too, as the Constitution says, “Shall Not Be Infringed”, and it is a God Given Right to bear arms. Not a Privilege, or Subject to Govt. Approval. That Over-rides any State or Federal Law restricting my carrying of firearms.. Yes they can arrest or… Read more »

Ed

I’m still mad about him vetoing the previous carry law, which passed both state houses by large majorities. It was also short of “constitutional carry”, as it required two actions prior to firing, meaning no chambered rounds in a semi-auto, and two empty chambers in a revolver. To my mind, two actions would be:”Aim” and “Fire”…

gary

I don’t see how legal behavior can justify disorderly conduct. My intelligence must have slipped .

Jim

That should be an eye opener for the rest of the States of this nation. Here in Texas there are many instances of po-leese arresting folks for open carry of their “black” rifles, which scares the weak minded liberals.

Texas needs very badly to pass the same statute to relieve the legal open carry of any firearm.

An armed society is a polite society…