A bill to prevent the purchase and ownership of guns by people who have committed violent misdemeanors has resurfaced in the Senate.
Sen. Terry Spencer, R-Layton, originally wanted to ban anyone convicted of a class A or class B misdemeanor, from a list of 33 offenses identified in SB79, from owning or purchasing a gun for three years.
After the bill was opposed by the National Rifle Association and other gun groups, Spencer agreed to a compromise that eliminates seven class B misdemeanors from the list.
Meanwhile, bills belonging to the Republicans' crime-fighting package, including some gun-control legislation, are flying through the Utah Legislature.
On Thursday, HB176, which was roundly criticized in committee by Republicans before it was officially placed into the package, passed the House by a 70-0 vote with almost no debate.
Sponsored by a Democrat, Rep. Gary Cox from Kearns, the bill places into background checks court records of people adjudicated mentally ill by a court, or who used a mentally ill defense in a court conviction.
And on Wednesday, a bill that provides stiffer punishment for students caught with guns in school moved through a House committee and now awaits action by the full House.
Rep. Bill Wright's bill will likely see some amendments. The Elberta Republican wants to make it mandatory that a child who brings a gun to school is automatically suspended for up to one year. Parents can appeal to the district superintendent and school board, who can waive the suspension.
Rep. John Swallow, R-Sandy, said he wants Wright's bill changed so that such a student would be expelled with no chance of coming back. Wright said he wouldn't oppose the change.
Spencer's new bill, SB153, also increases the maximum sentence for the class A misdemeanors remaining on the list from 12 to 13 months. And as such, those crimes now fall under the federal Brady Act, meaning anyone convicted of those 26 offenses will be banned from gun purchase and ownership for life, not just for three years.
Spencer said he is pleased with the compromise bill. However, he said, the gun lobby no longer agrees with the compromise.
Gun-rights advocates couldn't be reached for comment.
Spencer is attempting to reach resolution on the bill before it is debated in the Senate Judiciary Committee, which Spencer heads.
The class B misdemeanors included in the original SB79 but dropped from SB153 are: damage to a communication device, interfering with an arresting officer, possession of a dangerous weapon in secure areas of an airport, harassment, providing false information on a concealed weapons permit application, making a terroristic threat and carrying a dangerous weapon while intoxicated or under the influence of drugs.
If the bill passes, people convicted of those crimes still would be able to buy and own guns.
The class A misdemeanors remaining in the new version of the bill, conviction of which would result in a lifetime ban from weapons ownership, include: arson, several types of assault, child abuse, lewdness involving a child, negligent homicide, stalking, sexual battery, theft by extortion and vehicle burglary.
The bill is supported by Gov. Mike Leavitt. When it was being developed with the governor's office during the interim, Spencer said, it included a list of more than 100 violent misdemeanors.
Leavitt said in a talk with the media Tuesday he is optimistic the bill would be approved during the session.
According to Spencer, other states differ widely on their classification of similar crimes as felonies and misdemeanors. Some of the Class A misdemeanors included in SB153 would result in weapons banishment in other states but some would not. Other states are looking at passing similar bills, Spencer said.