Utah Gun Laws

Basics

Weapon laws (Title 76, Ch. 10, Pt. 5)
Utah does not have purchase permits, gun registration, or gun-owner licensing. There is no waiting period mandated for firearm purchases and private gun sales are legal. Concealed weapon permits (CCW) are-shall issue, all US permits are recognized, and open carry is allowed. Constitutional carry goes into effect 5/5/21.

Constitutional Carry (Permitless concealed carry)
Effective May 5, 2021, 2021’s HB 60 allows anyone over 21 and up may legally possess a gun to carry openly or concealed, with or without a permit. This ends the permit requirement for open carry as well as concealed carry.

Government buildings
The secure areas of airports, homeless shelters, non-public areas of government buildings (secure areas), courthouses, courtrooms, mental health facilities or correctional facilities are off-limits to firearms. Public area of other government buildings are legal. Secure storage must be provided. See also 76-8-311.1 and 76-8-311.3 and 53-5a-103.5.

No guns signs
No gun signs on private property do not have the force of law. Failure to comply with a request to leave or to disarm would be trespassing. Frontier Carry recommends taking your business elsewhere.

Bar carry
It is legal to carry while consuming alcohol or while in bars or restaurants that serve alcohol. One may not be intoxicated while carrying a firearm (76-10-528) and the criteria is the same as for DUI (.05 BAC, not .08 BAC).

School carry (K-12)
Concealed firearm permittees, those with administrative permission, or a weapon in a vehicle, is legal (76-10-505.5). Child care facilities and pre-schools are also considered schools. Open carry is legal (see details). Provisional permittees 18-20 may not carry in a public or private elementary or secondary school or on the grounds (53-5-710).

Campus carry (College/University)
Open and concealed carry on campus with a permit is legal for students and staff (76-10-505.5). Staff does not have to inform their supervisors they are carrying. Provisional permittees may carry at colleges and universities.

Car carry
A person may not carry a loaded firearm in or on a vehicle unless the vehicle is in the person's lawful possession or the person is carrying the loaded firearm in a vehicle with the consent of the person lawfully in possession of the vehicle. Basically, in your own car, or if the driver is okay with you having a loaded gun, loaded cary carry is legal. 76-10-501(18)

Churches
Churches (and houses of worship) may choose to prohibit firearms (76-10-530). The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints prohibits firearms on all its property. BCI page here.

Employee protection/parking lots
Employers or private property owners may prohibit possession of firearms, but cannot ban them from vehicles in parking lots unless their is other parking reasonably available or secure storage is provided. 34-45-103

Airports
No firearms in any airport secure area located beyond the main area where the public generally buys tickets, checks and retrieves luggage. This is past the TSA security checkpoints. At least one notice shall be prominently displayed at each entrance to a secure area in which a is restricted. 76-10-529 and 53-5-710

Home carry
It is legal to carry a loaded firearm, concealed or unconcealed, in your own home or on your own property without a permit.

Federally Prohibited Places

Firearms, loaded or unloaded, concealed or openly carried, are prohibited in the following places

Inside federal facilities (including courthouses and offices like a Social Security office);
On military bases (military personnel should refer to DoD policy and post orders regarding storing personal weapons on base);
The Post Office property (includes the parking lot), but not post-office windows in stores (contract stations);
VA hospitals/facilities including federal veterans' cemeteries (carrying).

Firearms are banned in "a building or part thereof owned or leased by the Federal Government, where Federal employees are regularly present for the purpose of performing their official duties" and includes essentially all parts of federal court facilities (18 USC § 930). 'No weapons' signs must be posted at federal facilities in order for someone to be convicted (but you may be arrested).

Interstate Transportation Protection 18 USC § 926A
This section was intended to protect innocent passage of travelers who might have a firearm prohibited by local jurisdiction. For instance, a resident of a frontier state driving through California with an 'assault weapon' to another free state. The trip must be from one free state to another, the firearm unloaded, and neither the firearm nor any ammunition is readily accessible from the passenger compartment. In the case of a vehicle without a compartment separate from the driver’s compartment the firearm or ammunition shall be contained in a locked container other than the glove compartment or console.

Airports/Aircraft 49 CFR 1540.111 and 49 USC § 46505
Under federal law (local laws may differ), firearms are prohibited beyond the TSA checkpoints. You also cannot attempt to enter a TSA checkpoint while armed, even by mistake. Check your bags! Even loose ammunition, empty magazines, spent cases, and miscellaneous gun parts have caused problems and prosecutions for travelers. Learn more about the TSA regulations.

Military Bases
Self-defense firearms are generally prohibited on base. Almost uniformly, civilians may not possess firearms on base. Service-members may be required to store their weapons as their commanding officer directs. Check individual base and service branch regulations.

National Park
Section 512, Credit CARD Act of 2009 (and 54 USC § 104906) changed federal law to make park firearm regulations reflect state law. Typically, the only restrictions on firearm carry are state and local laws. If it is legal elsewhere in the state, it is legal in the park and sections that conflict with state law regarding carrying and possessing firearms (but not shooting bans) do not apply. So though on National Park Service lands (National Parks, Monuments, etc.) carrying a firearm or possessing loaded firearms are prohibited in vehicles (unless one has a special park permit, usually for hunting), this does not apply if the state allows open and/or concealed carry, or loaded/unloaded firearms in vehicles.

The park buildings (visitor centers, offices, etc.) are still federal facilities and off-limits to firearms. Discharge of firearms, except when lawfully hunting, is generally prohibited. Discharge of firearms, except when lawfully hunting, is generally prohibited. NPS pamphlet here. The same applies for National Wildlife Refuges, 16 USC § 1a–7b.

National Forest and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands in Utah have no ban on the carry of firearms.

Indian Reservations
Firearm carry on Indian reservations is a gray area. Some reservations in Utah do permit concealed carry with a valid concealed firearm permit, however, it may vary. Tribes cannot enforce tribal law on non-tribal members, though they can enforce state and federal law. You may be trespassed from the reservation and have your firearm confiscated. One should contact individual reservation authorities for clarification of their regulations.

State Preemption of Local Laws

Generally, state agencies and local governments are prohibited from making their own firearm laws and regulations. This is a concept known as state preemption and intended to promote uniform laws throughout the state. No municipality (counties, cities) or other government agencies can make or enforce firearm laws, rules, or regulations except as specifically authorized by law.

(1) The individual right to keep and bear arms being a constitutionally protected right, the Legislature finds the need to provide uniform laws throughout the state. Except as specifically provided by state law, a citizen of the United States or a lawfully admitted alien shall not be:
            (a) prohibited from owning, possessing, purchasing, selling, transferring, transporting, or keeping any firearm at his place of residence, property, business, or in any vehicle lawfully in his possession or lawfully under his control; or
            (b) required to have a permit or license to purchase, own, possess, transport, or keep a firearm.
            (2) This part is uniformly applicable throughout this state and in all its political subdivisions and municipalities. All authority to regulate firearms shall be reserved to the state except where the Legislature specifically delegates responsibility to local authorities or state entities. Unless specifically authorized by the Legislature by statute, a local authority or state entity* may not enact or enforce any ordinance, regulation, or rule pertaining to firearms. (76-10-500)

*"State entity" means a department, commission, board, council, agency, institution, officer, corporation, fund, division, office, committee, authority, laboratory, library, unit, bureau, panel, or other administrative unit of the state. 76-10-501(24)

The effect of this law makes local laws or rules that regulate anything other than discharge of firearms null and void. While some authorities may be in denial of the effect of Utah's uniform firearm law regulations, the law is on the side of the armed citizen.

2022 update: SB 115 (2022) beefed up protections for preemption, including allow civil action and enforcement for violations.

Who cannot possess a firearm?
Utah has two classes of prohibited persons (76-10-503). Both categories closely mirror the federal list of prohibited persons. A Category I prohibited person is one who:

has been convicted of any violent felony;
is on probation or parole for any felony;
is on parole from a secure facility;
within the last 10 years has been adjudicated delinquent for an offense which if committed by an adult would have been a violent felony;
is an alien who is illegally or unlawfully in the United States;
is on probation for a conviction of possessing a controlled substance.

A Category II prohibited person is one who:

has been convicted of any felony;
is an unlawful user of a controlled substance;
within the last seven years has been adjudicated delinquent for an offense which if committed by an adult would have been a felony;
is in possession of a dangerous weapon and is knowingly and intentionally in unlawful possession of a Schedule I or II controlled substance;
has been found not guilty by reason of insanity for a felony offense;
has been found mentally incompetent to stand trial for a felony offense;
has been adjudicated as mentally defective or has been committed to a mental institution;
has been dishonorably discharged from the armed forces;
has renounced his citizenship after having been a citizen of the United States.

Minors

A minor under 18 years of age may not possess a dangerous weapon unless has the permission of his parent or guardian to have the weapon or is accompanied by a parent or guardian while he has the weapon in his possession. Any minor under 14 years of age in possession of a dangerous weapon shall be accompanied by a responsible adult (76-10-509). A minor under 18 years of age may not possess a handgun, a short barreled rifle or short barreled shotgun, or a machine gun (76-10-509.4). A parent or guardian who knows their minor child is illegally in possession of a firearm must make a reasonable effort to disarm the child (76-10-509.7). A minor who purchases a firearm must be in the presence of their parent or guardian (76-10-509.9). A minor also generally may not have a firearm at a school (76-10-505.5).

Concealed Firearm Permit Reciprocity

Utah recognizes all states'/territories' permits.