Utah is one of 29 states around the country that doesn’t require a permit to carry a firearm. So long as you can lawfully own a gun, you can lawfully bear it… with one major exception. 

Utah generally requires gun carriers to be at least 21 years of age, even though neither state or federal law prohibits the keeping of arms for 18, 19, and 20-year-olds. Adults under the age of 21 can apply for a provisional carry license, but if you want to carry a loaded gun without a permit you have to wait until your 21st birthday. 

That quirk in the law may soon be addressed, at least partially, after the Utah State House gave its approval to a bill allowing under-21s the ability to open carry a loaded firearm, while keeping the status quo in place regarding concealed carry. 

Sponsored by House Majority Whip Karianne Lisonbee, R-Syracuse, HB133 makes several technical changes to the state’s firearms code, while also lowering the age for openly carrying loaded weapons and preventing landlords from prohibiting tenants from possessing firearms in their residences.

As a “constitutional carry” state, residents can conceal carry firearms without a permit, and adults over the age of 21 can legally openly carry loaded firearms in most public places. Lisonbee told KSL.com last year that the distinction between 18-year-olds and 21-year-olds when it comes to open carry law likely runs afoul of anti-age-discrimination law, citing a 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision.

“Utahns should know their rights,” she told colleagues on the House floor Tuesday. “This bill clarifies their rights and allows every Utahn to be able to read the code and understand what they can and cannot do.”

So why not just do away with all of the age-based restrictions? If a 19-year-old is responsible enough to openly carry a loaded gun, why shouldn’t he or she be able to conceal their pistol? As Lisonbee pointed out during debate, adults younger than 21 can already have a loaded gun in their vehicle and their domicile, so it makes no sense to deny them their ability to lawfully bear arms outside of a car or home. 

As beneficial as Lisonbee’s bill would be to young adults, it’s the provision barring landlords from banning tenants from having guns that could have the bigger impact. I get the property rights argument, but at the same time, if landlords can prohibit their tenants from possessing a gun in their rented residence, a huge portion of the population can be denied their Second Amendment rights just because they choose (or are forced by circumstance) to rent instead of own their home. 

According to Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute at the University of Utah, about 30% of Utah households are renters, a number that’s likely to rise in the years to come given the spike in both home prices and mortgage rates. Even at the current levels, it’s unconscionable to think that almost 1 in 3 Utah adults could lose their ability to keep and bear arms because their landlord won’t let them keep a gun in the home. 

Lisonbee’s bill would be especially beneficial to those on the lower rungs of the economic ladder, who are far less likely to be homeowners, but are also more likely to live in neighborhoods with higher rates of violent crime. It’s pathetic that her bill passed the House along party lines, but the good news is that Utah’s legislature is so dominated by Republicans that no Democrat votes will be needed for HB 133 to be approved by the Senate and signed into law by Gov. Spencer Cox. The bill could still use the support of gun owners in the state, however, and now’s the time for Utah’s Second Amendment community to contact their state senators and urge them to swiftly approve HB 133.