Earlier this year, Utah lawmakers loosened gun rules on Utah college campuses. Now a GOP lawmaker wants to remove some of the last remaining restrictions during the upcoming 2026 session.
⏰ Tick Tock
4 days - First day candidates (except congressional candidates) can file for the 2026 election. (1/2/2026)
22 days - Start of the 2026 Utah Legislature (1/20/2026)
70 days - First day congressional candidates can file to run for the 2026 election. (3/9/2026)
78 days - Neighborhood caucus night. (3/17/2026)
117 days - Utah Democratic Party's state nominating convention (4/25/2026)
176 days - Utah's 2026 primary election (6/23/2026)
299 days - 2026 midterm elections (11/3/2026)
1,044 days - 2028 presidential election (11/7/2028)
Utah already has some of the most permissive gun laws in the country. In 2025, lawmakers passed legislation allowing anyone 18 and older to carry on campus with a concealed‑carry permit.
Rep. Walt Brooks, R–St. George, is pushing HB84 for the 2026 session. The bill would allow adults to carry on Utah college campuses—concealed or openly—without a permit, essentially aligning campuses with the same rules that apply everywhere else in the state.
Colleges could still ban guns in narrowly defined areas, but that authority is limited. Private colleges, like BYU, would still be able to prohibit firearms on campus.
Brooks’ bill makes one other subtle change. Currently, students can keep firearms in their rooms, and prospective roommates can opt out of living with someone who has a concealed-carry permit. HB84 makes permits irrelevant—and makes that opt‑out toothless. Instead, students could request roommates who “choose not to lawfully possess firearms in the resident’s dormitory,” which hinges on self‑disclosure rather than a verifiable permit status.
That change presents a few problems. Under current law, whether a student had a concealed weapon permit is a matter of public record. Brooks’ bill shifts from the clear-cut permit/no permit distinction to a much squishier standard, relying on whether a student discloses whether they have a firearm.
Utah’s campus-carry law drew fresh scrutiny earlier this year after conservative podcaster Charlie Kirk was shot and killed on the campus of Utah Valley University in September.
Earlier in December, Utah received a failing grade for its gun laws from the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence.