PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

JANUARY-MARCH, 2001

I am happy to report that the 2001 Legislative session concluded with no major damage to your firearms rights. HB 376 as it was finally passed recognizes out of state concealed carry permits for a period of 60 consecutive days after which the individual involved needs to apply for a Utah permit. It remains to be seen whether the Governor will sign it. SB 87 was passed and sent to the Governor for signature. It adds definitions for antique firearms and curios and relics. It exempts these items from the Brady background check and the corresponding fee. I do not think there is any opposition to SB 87 in as much as these definitions were lifted directly from federal law. Everyone appreciates the effort exhibited by firearms owners throughout the State in prodding the Legislature into passing these two bills. There were many other bills that were proposed, but did not make it through the Session. Rob Bishop and others were successful in working with the respective Rules Committees of both the House and the Senate to keep the remainder of the bills from seeing the light of day. Please thank your Legislators for the good work they did in keeping your firearms and self defense rights in tact for another day.

Your help will be urgently needed in the coming months to make sure that the Utah Department of Natural Resources, Division of Parks and Recreation, does not close down or destroy the biathlon shooting facility at Soldier Hollow following the Olympics in order to accommodate a 36 hole golf course. The Legislature approved a $12 million bond for a new golf course north of the biathlon/cross country facilities. The shooting range as it is currently configured needs to have overhead baffling added to make the range compatible with a golf course.

The plans for adding additional firing points to the old Wendover Military Shooting Range were completed and submitted to the Tooele County Engineer for review and approval. These drawings were approved as submitted. We are now working with the Tooele County Commission and the Wendover Airport Manager to line up the heavy equipment needed to move the dirt and construct the firing lines. If the equipment can be scheduled, the range should be available for high power and smallbore competitions next spring. The facilities are presently open to the public. You need to contact the Airport Manager, sign the log book, obtain a gate key, and return the key and sign out when you are finished. The 200 yard firing line is in, and firing lines have been surveyed and marked for placement of the 300, 500, 600, 800, 900, and 1,000 yard firing lines.

Ralph Schamel and Mark Brooks have done a great job in staffing the table used to solicit NRA memberships at the Crossroads of the West Gun Shows. For the past several gun shows, new NRA memberships have been averaging over 200 per show. Currently, your State Association is in the top 10 percent of all organizations soliciting new memberships for the NRA.

With spring around the corner, I hope each of you have made plans for a successful shooting and hunting season. If not, it isn’t too late to start. Lets all give it our best.

Woody