2025 Firearm Bills.
PASSED BILLS
HB 128 Dangerous Weapons Recodification and Cross References is largely a recodification and clarification bill of firearm offenses. Originally, the bill only sought to clarify that the crime of possessing a dangerous weapon on school premises also applies to minors. This is still in the bill, but it also adopted a lot of language from HB 133 Dangerous Weapons Amendments when that bill did not pass out of Senate committee. Many stakeholders were concerned that HB 133 increased youth access to firearms, though the sponsor maintained that everything in the bill was already legal.
HB 183 Noncitizen Restricted Person Amendments provides that non-citizens with applications pending for asylum or temporary protected status are restricted persons not allowed to possess, purchase, transfer, or own dangerous weapons. Since non-citizens are already restricted, we did not oppose this bill.
HB 195 Firearm Retention Amendments prohibits a plea in abeyance from including a condition that the defendant forfeits their firearms (unless the offense restricts firearm possession). It requires firearms seized by law enforcement as a result of a criminal offense to be returned if the individual is not restricted and may lawfully possess the firearm. Prosecution and victims groups were opposed to this bill and asked for a carveout for domestic violence cases. There was some disagreement over what DV cases restrict someone from owning a firearm, and prosecutors want to maintain the ability to negotiate the gun forfeiture in plea deals. The sponsor declined to make this carveout since anyone not restricted can just go buy another gun the same day anyway.
HB 425 Department of Public Safety Fee Amendments increases the annual fee for offenders on the Sex, Kidnap, and Child Abuse Offender Registry from $100 to $125. It also directs the Bureau of Criminal Identification to establish fees relating to concealed firearm permits for residents and non-residents and to share data with the Legislature.
HB 491 Behavioral Health Modifications requires the Department of Public Safety to survey all law enforcement agencies in the state and publish a publicly searchable registry of whether an agency is or is not available to receive a voluntarily committed firearm in accordance with safe harbor provisions. It also requires a behavioral health receiving center to comply with licensing requirements from the Department of Health and Human Services and allows DHHS to enact rules and assess and collect fees in relation to the licensing of behavioral health receiving centers.
SB 14 Private Sale of a Firearm Sunset Review Amendments removes the sunset date for Section 76-10-526.1, Information check before private sale of a firearm.
FAILED BILLS
HB 187 Imitation Firearm Amendments sought to make it an infraction for a minor to possess an imitation firearm, like an airsoft gun with the orange tip removed. The sponsor brought this bill after an incident in West Valley where some kids had an airsoft gun but members of the public called the police thinking it was a real gun. The sponsor is a new legislator, Representative Fitisemanu, and he was really good about reaching out and getting the defense perspective on this bill, but we were still concerned that this bill criminalized normal kid behavior. Even the director of CCJJ admitted he was called while he was a police chief because his son had done this exact thing. Rep. Fitisemanu was pretty adamant that an infraction offense was appropriate because it is not overly punitive and allows law enforcement to decide not to file charges, but we saw education as more appropriate. In the end, we were able to get the first offense reduced to a written warning, and get a class C misdemeanor removed for someone who was caught in the act of removing the orange tip, but the bill was still unpopular with legislators and ultimately wasn’t heard on time.
HB 221 Burglary Amendments would have created the third degree felony of damaging a firearm storage container in the commission of a burglary if the burglar knowingly damages, disables, or otherwise tampers with it. Theft of a firearm is already a second degree felony, and theft/property damage is of course already illegal, but the sponsor seemed to want to target people who would break into other people’s homes and prevent them from accessing their firearms. There was some agreement from stakeholders that this behavior didn’t need its own penalty. The bill wasn’t prioritized and didn’t move forward.
HB 227 Restricted Person Amendments sought to restrict a person from owning firearms if they have been found mentally incompetent to stand trial or not guilty by reason of insanity for any criminal offense, not just a felony. We communicated our concerns with the sponsor and agreed not to oppose the bill if it provided a process for people to regain their 2nd Amendment rights after a period of time, but the bill did not end up moving forward.
HB 387 Firearm Attachment Amendments sought to create the class B misdemeanor of possessing or selling a machinegun firearm attachment. If the actor was a minor, the penalty would have remained a third degree felony (as it was previously in a different section of code). These kinds of firearm bills are never popular with the Utah Legislature and almost always fail to pass out of committee.
SB 130 Firearm and Firearm Accessory Modifications was another firearm bill that sought to increase penalties for altered firearms and illegal purchases of firearms by restricted individuals. Like the others, this bill failed to pass out of committee.