Senate committee advances school-safety and reserve-review measures, rejects recodification changes to weapons code

The Senate Government Operations and Political Subdivisions Committee on an administrative hearing day voted on multiple bills covering school safety, weapons law clarifications, statutory drafting cleanups and a state reserves review. The committee moved several measures forward and rejected one major recodification effort.

Representative Brady Shipp, sponsor of Fourth Substitute House Bill 104, told the committee the measure is ‘‘not about teaching kids to handle firearms’’ but aims to teach age‑appropriate safety steps such as ‘‘if you see a firearm, don’t touch it, tell a trusted adult.’’ The committee voted to favorably recommend HB 104 by a 4‑1 margin; Senator Blum cast the lone no vote.

The committee also unanimously approved First Substitute House Bill 128, which the sponsor described as fixing a drafting problem to prevent a prosecutor’s reading that might have allowed juveniles to carry firearms to school under parental permission. That substitute was adopted in committee and the bill was recommended out favorably.

A separate housekeeping measure, First Substitute House Bill 394, which removes certain statutory ‘‘intent’’ language and moves operative language into code, drew objections from the Utah Media Coalition. Michael Judd of the coalition told the committee he had sought engagement with the sponsor and said the sponsor ‘‘told me he wouldn’t speak to me’’ during negotiations, an allegation the sponsor disputed and called ‘‘overblown.’’ After debate and a recorded roll-call, the committee voted 4‑2 to recommend HB 394 for substitute; Senators Blum and Thatcher voted no and expressed ongoing concerns about the struck…