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UT;Weapon Restriction Laws Upheld
Josey1
Member Posts: 9,598 ✭✭
Weapon Restriction Laws Upheld
Tuesday, July 9, 2002
BY ELIZABETH NEFF
THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE
The Utah Court of Appeals upheld state weapon restriction laws Monday, affirming that felons cannot legally possess guns.
Convicted felon Wade L. Willis, 22, had challenged the state's weapons restrictions statute as unconstitutional, claiming the state Legislature had the power to regulate his use of a firearm but not his right to possess one.
Fourth District Judge Gary Stott rejected the argument last year, and Willis pleaded guilty to firearms possession by a restricted person on the condition he would be allowed to appeal.
The appeals court disagreed with Willis, turning to an opinion it issued last year for guidance. In that case, the court found the statute did not run afoul of a person's constitutional right to bear arms. The statute legally restricted the right in "very limited circumstances," the judges said.
"Because [our prior ruling] made no distinction between use and possession," Presiding Judge Norman Jackson wrote for the court, "its conclusion that the Weapons Restrictions Statute is constitutional applies both to restrictions on possession and to restrictions on use."
Willis, a nonviolent felon, was found in possession of a stolen gun that was stashed in the bedroom closet of his Orem home. He was on probation at the time for his only previous felony conviction: evading a police officer. Willis has a history of nonviolent misdemeanor convictions and charges, including shoplifting and illegal possession of alcohol and drugs when he was a minor.
Assistant Attorney General Brett DelPorto called Tuesday's opinion "gratifying."
"It was a good win for the state of Utah," he said. "It shows that neither the Legislature nor the state of Utah want convicted felons to be possessing or using guns."
Provo attorney Margaret Lindsay, who represented Willis in the appeal, was not available for comment Monday.
http://www.sltrib.com/07092002/utah/752122.htm
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
Tuesday, July 9, 2002
BY ELIZABETH NEFF
THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE
The Utah Court of Appeals upheld state weapon restriction laws Monday, affirming that felons cannot legally possess guns.
Convicted felon Wade L. Willis, 22, had challenged the state's weapons restrictions statute as unconstitutional, claiming the state Legislature had the power to regulate his use of a firearm but not his right to possess one.
Fourth District Judge Gary Stott rejected the argument last year, and Willis pleaded guilty to firearms possession by a restricted person on the condition he would be allowed to appeal.
The appeals court disagreed with Willis, turning to an opinion it issued last year for guidance. In that case, the court found the statute did not run afoul of a person's constitutional right to bear arms. The statute legally restricted the right in "very limited circumstances," the judges said.
"Because [our prior ruling] made no distinction between use and possession," Presiding Judge Norman Jackson wrote for the court, "its conclusion that the Weapons Restrictions Statute is constitutional applies both to restrictions on possession and to restrictions on use."
Willis, a nonviolent felon, was found in possession of a stolen gun that was stashed in the bedroom closet of his Orem home. He was on probation at the time for his only previous felony conviction: evading a police officer. Willis has a history of nonviolent misdemeanor convictions and charges, including shoplifting and illegal possession of alcohol and drugs when he was a minor.
Assistant Attorney General Brett DelPorto called Tuesday's opinion "gratifying."
"It was a good win for the state of Utah," he said. "It shows that neither the Legislature nor the state of Utah want convicted felons to be possessing or using guns."
Provo attorney Margaret Lindsay, who represented Willis in the appeal, was not available for comment Monday.
http://www.sltrib.com/07092002/utah/752122.htm
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878