SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - A state lawmaker's bill to eliminate out-of-state instructors from Utah's concealed-carry permit process has triggered a fight between the National Rifle Association and the state gun lobby.
Accepted in 33 states, Utah's concealed-carry permit is considered the platinum card of permits. But problems with out-of-state instructors raised some concerns, including whether instructors were rubber stamping applications or not properly teaching classes.
Utah Rep. Curt Oda, R-Clearfield, initially proposed a bill to eliminate out-of-state instructors. He's now swapped it for another proposal after pressure from the National Rifle Association, which balked at a dramatic change.
Gun Owners of Utah policy director Charles Hardy says his organization fears the new bill won't take care of the problems.
"We fear this bill is not going to be sufficient to clean up the problems and to make sure the widespread recognition of the Utah permit is protected," said Hardy. "We would hope the NRA would step up a bit and help us weed out these bad instructors so we can address this problem, real or perceived."
Under Oda's new proposal would require written complaints about bad instructors which the state Bureau of Criminal Identification (BCI) would have to investigate within 30 days.
BCI program director Lt. Doug Anderson said that will be difficult to do.
"We can't fly out to some other state to collect evidence," said Anderson. "It's almost impossible to collect the evidence to substantiate a claim from out-of-state."
Oda said BCI can conduct investigations over the phone. Anderson said that won't provide investigators with sufficient evidence.
"It will turn into a he-said, she-said situation," he said.
In addition, Oda's bill provides no funding for more instructors or out-of-state travel.
BCI's existing complaint system currently has a backlog of out-of-state complaints that will likely go nowhere as the agency lacks the resources to investigate them.
Regulating in-state instructors is easier, Anderson said. BCI randomly attends instructor classes and has pre-emptive talks about potential problems. That's not possible with out-of-state instructors.
The lack of oversight is a concern for gun-rights advocates who fear some states will stop recognizing Utah's permit.
"We would hope the many law-abiding, good instructors would police themselves instead of have a few bad apples ruin it for everyone," Hardy said.
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Information from: The Salt Lake Tribune, http://www.sltrib.com
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
