Utah campus open carry permit under fresh scrutiny after Kirk shooting
HB 128, passed in August, allows people with the proper permit to openly carry firearms on college campusesAs authorities at the federal and state levels parse the details of the fatal shooting of far-right activist Charlie Kirk at a university in Utah, a recently passed state bill that allows people with concealed-carry permits to carry firearms openly on college campuses has drawn fresh scrutiny.
While it’s unclear whether the suspected shooter, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, was legally allowed to own the hunting rifle used in the shooting, or have one on a university campus, the proximity between the bill’s passing and the shooting has pushed the law into headlines across the US.
The bill did not come in a vacuum, but added to Utah’s already second amendment-friendly legislative landscape. The state doesn’t have extreme risk protection orders (Erpo), known as red-flag laws, which allow people such as police officers and family members to petition a judge to have someone’s firearms temporarily taken away. It is one of 29 states that allows people to carry concealed firearms without a permit. It has a law aiming to get guns out of the hands of people in crisis, but requires people to flag themselves in the federal background check system.
Utah campus open carry permit under fresh scrutiny after Kirk shooting
HB 128, passed in August, allows people with the proper permit to openly carry firearms on college campuses
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