State law now says concealed weapons permit holders can bring their guns into public schools and on to college campuses — but no one, particularly candidates for the office of governor, is exactly encouraging people to bring their guns to class.
The University of Utah has been at the center of controversy over whether guns should be allowed in public schools and colleges.
The U. is not giving in on its fight to uphold its own policy that prohibits staff, faculty and students from bringing guns on campus.
The Attorney General's Office challenged the policy in 3rd District Court last year and lost. The case was appealed and was supposed to be dropped after the 2004 Legislature amended state law to say schools don't have the right to regulate firearms.
But the debate now lingers in the Utah Supreme Court as the governor's race heads toward a June 22 Republican primary.
Gubernatorial candidate Nolan Karras simply said he supports the current state law on guns.
"I believe in upholding the law," he said.
Karras is chairman of the State Board of Regents, which oversees higher education in Utah (George Mantes is acting as chairman while Karras runs for office).
Regents told the 2004 Legislature that either they would like to set gun policies for all of public higher education or for lawmakers to treat higher education the same as churches, which retain the right to ban guns through a posted notice. The Legislature did not bend to regents' response to SB48 and instead passed Sen. Michael Waddoups' bill to amend the law.
Prior to the 2004 Legislature, state regents supported individual institutions' policies on guns, according to Commissioner of Higher Education Rich Kendell. Utah State University, for example, also had a gun policy, which required students to sign a "contract" that says they agree not to bring guns into residence halls.
"We want to keep colleges and universities free from weapons, knives, guns and other things that could interfere with the education process," Kendell said Wednesday.
Republican challenger Jon Huntsman Jr. — who, along with his running mate, Gary Herbert, obtained their own concealed weapons permits a couple of weeks ago — said the U. has the right to challenge the law but not to disobey it while challenging it in the courts.
"The court's ruling should be abided by," Huntsman said. "The rule of law must be respected, irrespective of what individuals or institutions think the law should be."
Huntsman campaign manager Jason Chaffetz said Huntsman and Herbert decided to take the Utah instructional course to obtain concealed weapons permits "to better understand the issue and to understand it personally."
Huntsman "owns a variety of guns," Chaffetz said.
Huntsman revealed that he had passed the tests for a concealed weapons permit during a debate Thursday on KSL Radio, where he said he believes in the Second Amendment right for citizens to bear arms, but that he also believes "we must protect private property rights, too."
The U. Board of Regents has said, despite the new law, that school officials should continue to enforce the school's policy until the Utah Supreme Court decides sometime this year whether language in the Utah Constitution would make an exception for the U. and other schools to set their own gun policies.
U. regents chairman chair James Macfarlane said the U. would have simply said they will obey the new law if such a stance didn't jeopardize their chances with the Utah Supreme Court case. The decision from that court, he said, could impact all of higher education in Utah and possibly the country.
"This could be a very important case," Macfarlane said.
Unlike the U., public school districts have changed their policies on guns to conform with state law — but not without firing a few shots of their own.
Salt Lake City and Park City school district officials said in resolutions they would follow the law but that they disagree with it. Salt Lake City's resolution said schools should get equal "protection from weapons that is afforded private residences and houses of worship."
Karras was asked whether he supports the current practice of being able to bring guns to public schools. His response was short.
"I support the law as it now stands," he said.
During Thursday's KSL debate, Karras said those with concealed weapons permits have acted responsibly, and he considers the right to bear arms to be a "sacred part of our constitution." But, he added, private property rights should give people the right to ban guns from their own premises.
Huntsman said he will "fervently" defend the Utah Constitution on gun rights but that "in practice" he opposes taking guns into schools.
"My concern is not with legally licensed, concealed carriers," Huntsman said, "but with those who illegally obtain, conceal and use weapons."
The answers Karras and Huntsman gave don't run parallel with what others are thinking, namely Carol Lear, Utah State Office of Education's coordinator for school law. She wants the new governor to either support a law that forbids guns in schools or leave gun control policies up to local school boards.
E-mail: sspeckman@desnews.com,