As you know, there’s nothing more important than your right to carry a firearm.
But what if you were charged with a crime and pled guilty by reason of insanity? Now you can’t legally own a gun a firearm. But what if after your period of criminal insanity, you stop being insane and you need to go around armed again? Is there no recourse for people in this situation?
Well, State Sen. Daniel Thatcher (R) has a plan to deal with this situation which he calls “unconscionable”. Thatcher has introduced SB80 (text here) into the Utah state Senate, a bill which would set up a system by which people who’d pled guilty by reason of insanity or were committed to a mental institution could petition to get their gun rights back.
As Thatcher explained: “In the state of Utah, there is absolutely no method, no matter how diligent you’ve been or no matter what treatment process you’ve gone through, and I don’t think that’s OK. It is my belief people can get better.”
The bill passed through committee Monday afternoon on a 3-1 vote. The sole dissenter was Sen. Pat Jones (D).
