More
Cache Valley residents carrying concealed weapons
By Katie
Jo Matekovic
October 21, 2008 | With the world witnessing brutal
shootings in schools and communities it is not a surprise
at the increase number in concealed firearm permits.
In Utah alone there are approximately 132,000 issued
permit holders that are allowed to carry on campus of
public colleges and universities, and in most public
places.
Cache Valley resident,
Dex Taylor has been an officer with the Logan City
Police Department since 1985 and a certified concealed
firearms instructor for 11 of those years. Taylor teaches
one class in Logan every month and rarely has an empty
seat. People of all ages take his class, from elderly
men and women to Utah State University students in their
early 20s.
In order to obtain a concealed firearm permit you
must: complete an application and a minimum four-hour
course signed off by a certified instructor with the
department of
Utah's Public Safety and the Bureau of Criminal
Investigations, which Taylor is certified to do. One
must be 21 years of age and undergo a national background
check, submit their fingerprints on a FBI card along
with a passport photo and a notarized signature. Taylor
walks all of his students through the requirements for
full understanding of the safety measures involved.
Ashley Stoddard, a concealed firearms permit holder
said, "The main reason I got my permit is because my
husband leaves his gun in our vehicle and if I was to
get pulled over and the gun was accessible and loaded
that it would be a really bad day for me." She doesn't
carry all the time, but "always good to have when I
am by myself outside of Logan."
Taylor was interviewed for a story in The
Utah Statesman about Utah State University students
carrying guns on campus and said, "It would make very
little difference if students with permits carried guns
on campus…guns have to be concealed and they have to
be safe."
Cameron Oliver, a student at Utah State University,
is planning on taking Taylor's class next month for
his permit. "I want to learn more about firearms, and
to have an option to protect myself on campus."
Living in Cache Valley there is an option to obtain
your concealed firearms permit from a certified instructor
and exercise the 2nd Amendment.
"It seems that the majority of the states with the
most stringent gun control laws have the greatest crime,"
Taylor stated. "I only believe you should carry a firearm
if you are properly trained to do so, I carry two firearms
to show my students that it is possible to safely carry
a loaded firearm."
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