Utah lawmaker wants to make it legal to openly carry loaded weapons in public

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House Majority leader Karianne Lisonbee, R-Clearfield, is quietly proposing a significant expansion of gun rights in the state, making it legal for anyone over the age of 18 to carry a loaded gun in the open in most public places.

Anyone over 21 can carry a loaded pistol, hidden or in the open, without a permit. Other types of guns, such as rifles and shotguns, may be carried openly without a permit if not loaded. For a weapon to be considered unloaded, there cannot be a round in the chamber, and the user must make at least "two mechanical actions" in order to fire the weapon. If a gun has a full clip, but there is no round in the chamber, it would meet that definition.

Lisonbee's proposal aims to abolish those distinctions, making it legal for anyone over 18 to carry a loaded weapon in the open with few exceptions. It would remain illegal to carry weapons in schools, daycares, airports, churches and private residences that prohibit weapons.

In 2021, lawmakers passed so-called "constitutional carry," making it legal for anyone over 21 to carry a concealed weapon in public without a permit.

The draft bill was unveiled Monday morning during the Legislature's Criminal Code Evaluation Subcommittee meeting.

More than 30 states allow the public to carry firearms openly without a permit.

Lisonbee has been behind several pro-gun pieces of legislation in recent years.

In 2023, Lisonbee authored HB219, which blocked the state from enforcing federal laws or regulations restricting firearms. The bill appeared timed to head off a federal ban on shoulder braces, which turn pistols into rifles. Earlier this year, a federal appeals court put that ban on hold, ruling it was likely illegal.

In 2021, Lisonbee sponsored a resolution expressing a desire to pass legislation making Utah a "Second Amendment sanctuary" state, which would empower officials to ignore federal laws they believed infringed on the constitutional right to bear arms.