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WILLIAMSON CO. - Classes at John A. Logan College are helping people get the right to carry a concealed handgun in 30 different states. After the class, students are eligible to apply for a permit through the state of Utah. A step that's necessary until Illinois passes a concealed carry law. Illinois stands alone in its views on concealed carry. It's the only state in the country that doesn't allow it, but that's not stopping people from getting a concealed carry permit. "We travel quite a bit from state to state and sometimes you get in a position you'll feel...

The last general answer seems to be a popular subject, especially with the new legislative session: laws concerning open carry and carrying concealed weapons. First off, when dealing with police, just notify us of the fact that you have a firearm. I cannot tell you how an individual officer will react, but that's what you do. Let me first say that I believe in gun ownership. I believe in defending yourself if in a life-threatening situation or defending the life of someone else. I however do not understand the need to own an assault rifle for private use, with ammunition...

SALT LAKE CITY - Legislator Paul Ray-R, Clearfield is sponsoring a bill that will allow Utahns to openly carry firearms and other weapons without being charged with disorderly conduct. Ray maintains some police agencies have unnecessarily issued citations to gun owners who have not concealed their weapons. Ray said, “When you’re trying to take away any second Amendment rights, there needs to be some protection there.” HB49 “provides that in the absence of additional threatening behavior, the otherwise lawful possession of a firearm or dangerous weapon, whether visible or concealed, is not a violation of certain statutory provisions …” If...

SALT LAKE CITY -- A House committee gave the green light to a bill that would clarify that a person cannot be charged with disorderly conduct for simply carrying a gun openly. "We are trying to just clarify what disorderly conduct is when there is firearm involved," the bill's sponsor Rep. Paul Ray, R-Clearfield, said. Ray's bill states that openly carrying a firearm in public would not be disorderly conduct. Rather, the person would need to commit some sort of questionable act to be charged with disorderly conduct. "They can't write me a citation just because I'm carrying a weapon,"...

Washington, DC --(Ammoland.com)- Two pro-gun conservatives recently announced they were running against Utah Senator Orrin Hatch. This is welcome news for gun owners. In a Senate career that has lasted more than thirty five years, Hatch has not been a particularly good friend of the Second Amendment. During negotiations over the 1986 McClure-Volkmer Firearms Owners Protection Act – designed to protect gun owners from abuses of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms -- Hatch sat at the negotiating table next to officials of the ATF and argued against the pro-gun positions of Sen. Jim McClure. Though a senior member...

Six police officers were shot by Matthew David Stewart on January 4, one of them died. Officer Jared Francom was laid to rest today with thousands of mourners in attendance. Police are being pretty button-lipped about some of the basic questions about the case, though there have been strange reports in the last few fays that Stewart had a "possible bomb" in his house. CNN reported: "There was a device that was fashioned in a way that concerned those who found it that there were materials that could have been used as a bomb," Weber County Attorney Dee Smith told...

OGDEN, Utah (AP) — Authorities say a Utah police officer has died following a shootout that left five other officers and a suspect wounded. Ogden police say in a statement early Thursday that Jared Francom died from his wounds following Wednesday night's drug-related shooting.

You know the “reasonable, common sense” crowd’s litany, the one about guns only being good for one thing? Namely, killing, death and wanton destruction? Yeah, well, next time one of them throws that one at you at a cocktail party, here’s a handy comeback example to keep in your quiver. If Chris Willden hadn’t had his gun on his hip yesterday, there would probably be two or three dead kids in Logan, Utah… Roger Anderson was headed for a day of skiing with three kiddies in tow. But he lost control of his car on a slippery, narrow bridge and...

People often criticize the media for what they perceive to be an obsession with bad news; That sort of “if it bleeds it leads” credo that keeps many viewers away from their 6′oclock’s because “it’s just going to make me angry.” We’ve all heard it. So here’s a piece of good and uplifting news for you: This past Saturday while we were all getting fabulous for our New Years Eve shenanigans, former police officer Chris Willden came upon an accident along the U.S. 89 in Logan Canyon, Utah where a Honda Accord had slid off the road and plummeted into...

As many as 10 heroic people jumped into an icy Utah river to help save three trapped children after a car plunged down a 10-foot embankment and flipped over. The rescuers helped turn the Honda Accord upright in the Logan River, and one man shot out the car’s window with a handgun and cut a seat belt to help free the children after Saturday afternoon accident, patrol Lt. Steve Winward said. The driver, Roger Andersen, 46, of Logan, lost control as he tried to brake while heading northbound on U.S. 89 during slick conditions. His 9-year-old daughter and 4-year-old son...

SALT LAKE CITY — A bill proposed for the 2012 Utah Legislature would prohibit a person who is lawfully carrying a firearm in public from being charged with non- firearm related crimes such as disorderly conduct or disturbing the operation of a school. HB49, sponsored by Rep. Paul Ray, R-Clearfield, states that, “… in the absence of additional threatening behavior, the otherwise lawful possession of a firearm … whether visible or concealed” would not in itself constitute a violation of various criminal statutes. The statutes specified by the bill also include failure to leave a higher education campus when ordered,...

SALT LAKE CITY — The intersection of faith communities and undocumented immigrants boils down to a basic Christian tenet, said the Rev. Steven R. Mitchell of the First Congregational United Church of Christ of Rock Springs, Wyo. "Jesus never turned anyone away. Neither do we," the Rev. Mitchell said. Mark Kadel, director of World Relief Spokane, said the issue must be framed in terms of "real people." "In God's eye, no one is illegal. They may be undocumented but they're not illegal," said Kadel, who directs programs that work with refugees, immigrants and victims of human trafficking. The two men...

TACOMA, Wash. -- The father-in-law of a missing Utah woman was charged Thursday with voyeurism and possession of child pornography after police investigating her disappearance came across thousands of images of women videotaped without their knowledge, some of his daughter-in-law, Pierce County authorities said.

For such a strong figure, Pat Summitt was feeling almost helpless. Months of erratic behavior had left the Tennessee women’s basketball coach bewildered, scared and asking herself “What’s wrong with me?” Summitt went to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., in May. She underwent a series of tests and received a stunning answer. The diagnosis was early onset dementia, Alzheimer’s type.

OGDEN -- James Linford is about 15 years older than the person he found in his house when he arrived home Tuesday morning, but that didn't stop Linford from giving the intruder what he had coming to him. The 68-year-old gave the man a good beating when he found him in his home at 11 a.m. on the 600 block of Harrison Boulevard. "If I had gotten to the gun, I would have killed him," Linford said. "You would have been reading the obituary." Linford said he'd planned what he might do if he ever found someone stealing from him....

PLEASANT GROVE, Utah (ABC 4 News) - A Pleasant Grove man tried to visit his alleged girlfriend Sunday night, but he didn't make it where he said he was going. Instead he walked into the wrong house and into the bed of a woman who says she had no idea who he was. Lt. Mike Roberts with Pleasant Grove Police described the events Sunday night after Michael Hanks went into the wrong house. Lt. Roberts said, “He walked into the master bedroom and climbed inside the bed with who he thought was his girlfriend and started to kiss her and...

COTTONWOOD HEIGHTS — He was dubbed the "Dog Hater." But now Cottonwood Heights police say their investigation has taken a complete 180-degree turn and a man wanted for allegedly pulling a gun on a group of dog walkers may have actually been the victim and was defending himself. Saturday evening, a man was walking his two dogs with friends near 3000 E. Danish Road. He later told police that his dogs were spooked by fireworks and nipped a man who was walking by. That man allegedly responded by pulling out a gun and threatening the dog walkers. But after the...

SALT LAKE CITY — A culture clash reminiscent of many in American history is surfacing here as Latino immigrants find they have new competition for service-sector jobs. The clash occurs after an immigrant population gets a firm hold on the lower rungs of the economic ladder and then sees competition from a newer immigrant population. Today's competition affecting the Latino community comes from refugees, about 1,100 of whom will arrive in Utah during the year, mostly from southeast Asia and Africa. The new arrivals join a population of about 25,000 in Salt Lake County whose journey here began with refugee...

Former Utah Governor John Huntsman, (R/UT), has made it official: Governor Huntsman is entering into the GOP running field for the White House. “Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman is promising policies to create jobs, achieve energy independence and overhaul the tax code.” But I do have ONE QUESTION TO ASK: But will going civil help or hurt Governor Huntsman? Conservatives may see it that it is just being way too soft with President Barak Obama. Plus now, with the surge of the TEA PARTY MOVEMENT, it will be much more harder in 2012 to be even a "moderate Republican" to...

Tipping points are funny: for years, decades, even centuries, the conditions for an event to occur may be ripe yet nothing happens. Then, in an instant, a shift occurs, whether its is due a change in conventional wisdom, due to an exogenous event or due to something completely inexplicable. That event, colloquially called a black swan in recent years, changes the prevalent perception of reality in a moment. This past week, we were seeing the effect of a tipping point in process, with gold prices rising to new all time highs day after day, and the price silver literally moving...

After participating in the pursuit of famed bandit Pancho Villa in the early 20th century, the Browning M1911 automatic pistol is again making history—becoming the first-ever official firearm of a U.S. state. In deciding to establish a state firearm, Utah lawmakers settled on the M1911 pistol because its creator, legendary gun maker John Browning, was born and lived a large part of his life in the state. Browning also founded his company in Utah. The 100-year-old handgun was adopted by the U.S. Army in 1911 and used by an expeditionary force that invaded Mexico five years later to hunt down...

Washington – The state of Utah, where approximately 110,000 undocumented immigrants live, is not a paradise but at least it wants to show the world that "it's not Arizona," approving measures that will benefit the foreigners illegally residing there. Only the national government can ensure that federal immigration laws are upheld, but the U.S. Congress has shown itself to lack the appetite to address once and for all the problem of illegal immigration. That gap has given rise to a mosaic of solutions, some of which could be considered unconstitutional. But Utah, known for its picturesque ski resorts and its...

KEARNS — Three people were shot and one man was arrested following an argument at a Kearns home Wednesday. But investigators say the shooting may have been in self-defense. About 12:50 p.m., Unified police received a call of a possible shooting with multiple victims at 4743 W. Hoffman (5350 South). Officers arrived at the scene and found two victims — a man and a woman with gunshot wounds — and the alleged gunman, said Unified Police Lt. Justin Hoyal. Clinton Johnson, 32, was waiting for officers to arrive and surrendered without incident, he said. The shooting happened after five people...

One thing Utah’s recent legislative sessions have made clear is that Utahns like their guns, and they like the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. That amendment, as ratified by the states, reads: “A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” Sounds simple, no? No. Utah’s Constitution is more explicit. According to Article 1, 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...

State flower, state motto, state song and now ... state gun? Call it shots fired. Two states have officially moved to declare state firearms in 2011, less than two months after the Arizona massacre that left six dead and Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D) grievously injured on January 8th. In both states, Utah and Arizona, the bills seem likely to become law. The Utah legislature took up a bill certifying the Browning Model 1911 automatic pistol as the official gun of Utah just 10 days after the shooting that rocked the nation. Used by military or law-enforcement personnel since being introduced...

SALT LAKE CITY -- Owning and carrying a knife is the right of every American citizen and Utahn, says an Ogden lawmaker. That is why Rep. Ryan Wilcox, R-Ogden, is sponsoring House Bill 271, which prohibits counties and cities from creating ordinances regulating the use of knives. HB 271 was passed unanimously Thursday by the Senate Government Operations and Political Subdivisions Standing Committee and now goes before the Senate floor for further consideration. Wilcox said some of his constituents who are sportsmen came to him about concerns they had after learning some municipalities in neighboring states had banned certain types...

“The shocking shooting of an Arizona congresswoman last month has not damaged the western state’s love affair with guns,” monstersandcritics.com reports. “The rampage at a shopping mall left six people dead and 14 injured. But lawmakers are not about to tighten the state’s famously lax gun laws. Rather they plan to bolster the status of firearms by naming the Colt revolver as the official state gun. On Wednesday a key legislative body approved a bill to make the Colt the official state firearm in recognition of the gun’s role in helping settle the desert territory in the late 19th century.”...

The disastrous Lane Kiffin Era has been officially recognized by the NCAA. It doesn't appear Hurricane Lane will be causing much more damage at Tennessee though. The Vols finally received their long-anticipated Notice of Allegations on Tuesday, and when released publicly for the first time by the athletic department on Wednesday, the broken rules all had a similar theme. The 16 impermissible phone calls, impermissible contact with recruits and the use of an intern to make contact with a high school staff all happened under Kiffin's watch - and the NCAA specifically targeted him with charges of failure to monitor...

ALPINE — The father of The 5 Browns performing group faces felony child sex abuse charges that were filed several days before he and his wife were critically injured in a spectacular car crash Monday evening. Keith Scott Brown, 55, was charged in 4th District Court on Feb. 10 with one count of sodomy on a child, a first degree felony, and two counts of sex abuse of a child, a second degree felony. Police have been working on the case for several months, and that the resulting charges are part of a plea agreement Brown was expected to plead...

Various bills are slowly but surely winding their way through the 2011 Legislature and, according to one activist, are putting the Latino community on edge. Also, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, trotted out his federal proposal again Monday. Meantime, a Latino activist delivered a letter to Salt Lake City's Mexican Consulate urging Mexico's president to suspend the visas of Mormon missionaries until the LDS Church takes a stronger position on immigration. From the outset of the 2011 Legislature, lawmakers have said they will address the illegal immigration issue one way or another, although on Monday Senate Majority Leader Scott Jenkins did...

LAYTON -- The shoplifter smashed Gabriel Stewart up against a wall. It didn't take him long to realize that pressure against his lower back was from a loaded gun held by a desperate man who didn't want to go to jail. The gunman had a firm grip on Stewart's shoulder, telling him and three of his Walmart co-workers, "Don't make me do this." "Absolutely, time stopped," Stewart told KSL News. "I didn't know what to do." Instantly, Shawn Ray and Justin Richins kicked into gear, spinning the gunman around. Lori Poulsen ripped the gun away and secured it. They all...

PLEASANT GROVE — Police are still looking for a man who broke into a home in Pleasant Grove Sunday and when confronted, fired a shot at the homeowner. Police say there has been a rash of similar home burglaries in Utah County, and they're often related to drug use. “I think she’s very lucky,” said Pleasant Grove Police Capt. Michael Smith, referring to the victim. A lot could have gone wrong yesterday, when a masked man went into the home in the area of 800 South and 1100 East. The homeowner, who did not want to be identified, said his...

SALT LAKE CITY -- A bill that would drop the "no gun" border around schools is one step closer to becoming law Friday, just as another gun-related bill died. Guns could be carried openly around the perimeter of public and private schools under H.B. 75, sponsored by Rep. Curt Oda, R-Clearfield, as long as the carrier remained off school property. The bill narrowly passed committee 5-4. The law currently defines a 1,000-feet perimeter around schools as off-limits for the open carry of firearms. The problem, Oda says, is that some schools, such as those in strip malls, are not easily...

After weeks of confusion, the rules regarding firearms on campus might have been settled once and for all. On Thursday, Rep. Curtis Oda, R-Clearfield introduced a House Bill 75, which would clarify that it is legal to openly carry a firearm on a state college campus. Oda spoke with U President Michael Young, and they came to an understanding that the U cannot ban open carry or regulate any other state firearm laws. Oda has since removed the language from the bill, deeming it unnecessary. "There should be some room for authority allowing a university campus to enforce its own...

DUGWAY -- The U.S. Army's Dugway Proving Ground was on lockdown Wednesday evening as part of "an ongoing security operation," according to spokeswoman Paula Thomas. Reports of nearly 1,000 employees stranded at the base, some in their cars, went unconfirmed but Dugway Proving Ground Commander Col. William E. King, IV, said food and beverages were being brought in. "As you know measures like these (lockdown of our gates) are not taken lightly," he said. "No one is in immediate danger but these steps are required." King said he would open the gates "as soon as I can." The gates to...

Josh Loftin's article on January 6 headlined "Two U of U officers put on leave over gun policy release" covers a current controversy about carrying firearms openly on the University campus. But Mr. Loftin's thesis is eclipsed by a more sinister issue. President Young's memorandum to his police appears to have been private, that is, the police had their directive, but the policy was not announced. Let me see if I understand how the policy would affect a student who carries a gun. Our student doesn't know about President Young's memorandum, so he doesn't know the rule; in his concealed...

A Utah lawmaker wants to allow all state residents who can legally have a gun carry and conceal it without a permit. Rep. Carl Wimmer, R-Herriman, said he plans to introduce a bill to eliminate the requirement for a state concealed weapon permit to carry a loaded gun. People who do not live in Utah would still need a permit issued by Utah or another state.

KNOXVILLE - A Kingston gun shop that planned to host a bobble-head shooting day based on ex-Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin's abrupt departure last year, has changed up Saturday's fundraiser. Instead of shooting bobbleheads of Kiffin and his father, University of Southern California defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin, Frontier Firearms on Gallagher Road plans to adopt them out. "For a $5 donation, bobble-head lovers may take home their very own Monte or Lane Kiffin bobble-head doll to love and nurture as they see fit," . . .

An altercation between two men occurred Saturday around 11 p.m. in the parking lot at Village Inn on 900 E. 400 South. After a verbal altercation inside the restaurant, as one man was getting into his truck, the other man approached his vehicle yelling, then reached down, exposing a gun, said Sgt. Shawn Josephson of the Salt Lake City Police Department. According to the police report, the man in his truck drew his own gun and pointed it at the other out of self-defense. The second man then got into another car and left, and the first man left shortly...

Washington • In the wake of Saturday’s shooting of an Arizona congresswoman and 19 others, Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, said Sunday he would likely carry his concealed weapon more often. “I carried it before,” Chaffetz said, noting he has had a concealed weapon permit predating his election to Congress in 2008. “I might do it a little more generally now.” The congressman, who owns a Glock 23 handgun, said he has carried his sidearm before in Utah but doesn’t do so when he’s in Washington. He sidestepped a question about whether more members should carry firearms, saying it is a...

Representative Carl Wimmer has filed a bill to end Utah’s special in-state college tuition program for students who are illegally in the United States. Wimmer’s bill balances compassion for students brought to the United States illegally by their parents with fairness for foreign students who play by the rules, Utah students who are trying to get into college and get the courses they need to graduate and for Utah taxpayers. The bill also encourages the proponents of illegal alien students to step up and help illegal aliens fund their education without committing employment-related felonies (document/Social Security fraud, perjury on I-9...

A 19-year-old man was fatally shot as he tried to burglarize a Kearns home Monday. Kyle Stuart Poulton, most recently living in Kearns, died at the scene, said Unified Police Department Lt. Don Hutson. The owner of the house, near 5600 South and 5100 West, saw a man trying to go through a sliding glass door about 3 a.m., Hutson said. The homeowner fired a pistol once at the man through the glass, Hutson said. The intruder ran away. When officers arrived, they found Poulton’s body next to the road, Hutson said. Poulton had one bullet wound to the chest....

SALT LAKE CITY — Gun rights advocates in Utah are pushing a new law that would let residents carry loaded, concealed firearms in public without a permit. In its newsletter this week, the Utah Shooting Sports Council listed the so-called "Constitutional carry" law as one of its top priorities for the 2011 Legislature, which convenes in January. The council says permits are "little more than bureaucratic permission slips" to exercise Second Amendment rights. Rep. Stephen Sandstrom, R-Orem, who recently met with the group, intends to draft legislation that would render state-issued concealed carry permits unnecessary. And other lawmaker plans to...

Knocked flat on his back, Landry Jones took a swipe at the ball he'd just fumbled and did his best to keep it -- and the Red River Rivalry -- from getting away. Linebacker Jared Norton came rushing in with a chance to put No. 21 Texas in prime position for a tying touchdown, only to see the ball roll out of bounds. In control from the beginning, No. 8 Oklahoma was just happy to survive with a 28-20 win over its main rival Saturday.

"Our normal day disappeared around 8:30. Sirens sounded and news reached us that a gunman was near or in the library. Violence had come into the heart of our campus. The outcome could have been much worse, no matter how quickly our law enforcement officials responded."

Colton Joshua Tooley, 19, dressed himself Tuesday morning in a button-down white shirt, a dark suit coat, a ski mask and an AK-47. Tooley then terrorized the University of Texas campus for more than 30 minutes by firing four shots into the air before running into the Perry- Castañeda Library, dashing up a stairwell screaming, and taking his own life with his rifle on the sixth floor. The shooting caused a campus lockdown as differing witness descriptions prompted a search for a second shooter. Helicopters circled overhead. Classes were canceled for the day. And when police finally allowed people to...

Police Search for Gunman on UT Campus Updated: Tuesday, 28 Sep 2010, 8:40 AM CDT Published : Tuesday, 28 Sep 2010, 8:40 AM CDT Austin, TX - Officials with the University of Texas Police Department say someone with a gun is on the UT campus. Police are searching an area near the Perry Castaneda Library at 21st and Speedway. They are looking for someone dressed all in black. Traffic is being diverted from the area. Stay with FOX 7 and myFOXaustin.com for updates.

AUSTIN – The federal health overhaul could dry up funds that the state's academic medical centers use to produce doctors in Texas, leaders of the University of Texas' six health science centers warned Wednesday. The medical school presidents said they're not necessarily opposed to the sweeping legislation signed by President Barack Obama last spring, but they worry that their centers may absorb deep financial hits if they don't adapt to a changed marketplace and cut costs. "We've got incredibly robust institutions, but they're inherently fragile," Daniel Podolsky, president of UT Southwestern Medical Center, told reporters after the presidents briefed UT...

Longhorns fans will have two opportunities to get a first-hand look at the Texas Football team and a chance to personally meet the squad as it prepares for its season opener at Rice on Sept. 4. The two open practices will be on Wednesday, Aug. 11, and Thursday, Aug. 12, from 7-9 p.m. at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium.

Break with the Past: Changing a dorm name makes a good Step towards healing UT's troubled racial history After several months of discussion within the University of Texas community in Austin, UT President William Powers Jr. will ask the school's board of regents today to consider renaming a dorm that now honors a former law professor, William Stewart Simkins, along with a neighboring park dedicated to his brother Eldred, a judge and UT regent. The reason? Simkins was not only a legal educator at UT from 1899-1929. He and his brother were members of the Ku Klux Klan during a...