Rep. Norm Thurston — Voting Record

Bill

Number

H.B. 143 First Substitute (2024GS)

Sponsor

Rep. Owens, D.

Final action

House/ filed 3/1/2024

Outcome

Failed / filed without passage

Summary

What it does

• This bill:
• defines terms;
• waives fees at certain public shooting ranges for military service members, veterans, peace officers, and retired peace officers;
• exempts Department of Public Safety shooting ranges from certain requirements; and
• makes technical and conforming changes.

Every vote on this bill

Bill text

SHOOTING RANGE REQUIREMENTS
GENERAL SESSION
STATE OF UTAH
Chief Sponsor: Doug Owens
Senate Sponsor: 
____________
LONG TITLE
General Description:
This bill modifies provisions relating to shooting ranges.
Highlighted Provisions:
This bill:
▸ defines terms;
▸ waives fees at certain public shooting ranges for military service members, veterans,
peace officers, and retired peace officers;
▸ exempts Department of Public Safety shooting ranges from certain requirements;
and
▸ makes technical and conforming changes.
Money Appropriated in this Bill:
None
Other Special Clauses:
None
Utah Code Sections Affected:
AMENDS:
47-3-304
, as enacted by Laws of Utah 2013, Chapter 155
47-3-305
, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2021, Chapter 246
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
Section 1. Section 
47-3-304
 is amended to read:
47-3-304.
Fees.
(1) 
As used in this section:
(a) "Military service member" means the same as that term is defined in Section
53B-8-102
.
(b) "Peace officer" means an officer described in Section 
53-13-102
.
(c) "Retired peace officer" means a peace officer who has become eligible, applies for,
and may receive an allowance under Title 49, Utah State
Retirement and Insurance Benefit Act.
(d) "Veteran" means the same as that term is defined in Section 
68-3-12.5
.
(2)
 Reasonable fees for the use of a shooting range to cover the incidental material and
supply costs incurred by making the range available to a group, may be established by:
(a) the State Armory Board established under Title 39A, Chapter 2, State
Armory Board, for a military range; and
(b) for a nonmilitary range, the state agency, institution of higher education, or political
subdivision that operates or has control of the range.
[
(2)
] 
(3)
 Fees for nonmilitary shooting range use may not exceed fees charged by the
Department of Natural Resources for the same or similar activity.
(4) (a) Fees established under Subsection (2) are waived for military service members,
peace officers, retired peace officers, and veterans at state-owned public shooting ranges.
(b) Notwithstanding Subsection 
47-3-305
(1)(b), fees are waived for military service
members, peace officers, retired peace officers, and veterans at shooting ranges that are
operated as a public shooting range staffed and operated by the Division of Wildlife Resources.
(c) Waived fees under this Subsection (4) do not include materials such as clay pigeons
or special targets.
[
(3)
] 
(5)
 Fees collected under Subsection [
(1)
] 
(2)
 shall be:
(a) for a shooting range operated or controlled by a state agency or an institution of
higher education, deposited [
in
] 
into
 the General Fund as dedicated credits to be used for the
operation and maintenance of the range; and
(b) for a shooting range operated or controlled by a political subdivision, deposited in
the political subdivision's general fund.
Section 2. Section 
47-3-305
 is amended to read:
47-3-305.
Exceptions and prohibitions.
(1) This part does not apply to:
(a) shooting ranges that are otherwise open to the public;
(b) shooting ranges that are operated as a public shooting range staffed by and operated
by Division of Wildlife Resources;
(c) the Utah National Guard ranges located at Camp Williams and the Salt Lake
International Airport;
(d) Department of Corrections ranges;
(e) Department of Public Safety ranges;
 and
[
(e)
] 
(f)
 ranges owned, operated, or currently leased as of March 26, 2013, by a state or
local public safety agency.
(2) 
(a)
 Firearms may not be allowed in a school building, except under the provision of
Section 
76-10-505.5
, unless there is an outdoor entrance to the shooting range and the most
direct access to the range is used.
(b)
 An outdoor entrance to a shooting range may not be blocked by fences, structures,
or gates for the purpose of blocking the outdoor entrance.
(3) 
(a)
 Only air guns may be used in public ranges [
where
] 
in which
 the ventilation
systems do not meet current OSHA standards as applied to the duration of exposure of the
participants.
(b)
 For the purposes of this part, an air gun does not include 
a
 larger caliber pneumatic
[
weapons
] 
weapon
, paintball [
guns
] 
gun
, or air [
shotguns
] 
shotgun
.
(4) Group range use is a lawful, approved activity under Subsection 
76-10-505.5
(4)(a).
Section 3. 
Effective date.
This bill takes effect on May 1, 2024.