This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Sunset • The City Council here has endorsed a resolution supporting the right of the people to keep and bear arms under the U.S. Constitution's Second Amendment and the Utah Constitution.
The Sunset council members voted 5-0 on Tuesday night to pass the resolution, which takes note of the December shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut and calls for a dialogue on gun rights and deterrence of criminal activity involving firearms.
"The City of Sunset encourages all people to participate in this sensitive conversation," the resolution says, "with honesty and sincerity while avoiding inflammatory rhetoric or accusations."
Mayor Chad Bangerter proposed that the council pass the resolution, which is the same one approved unanimously by the Syracuse City Council on March 12.
"I believe in the Second Amendment right to carry and possess guns," Bangerter told The Salt Lake Tribune.
The resolution encourages responsible gun ownership and supports legislation that does not ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines and protects the open and concealed carry of firearms.
It also supports the position taken by the Utah Sheriffs' Association and Davis County Sheriff Todd Richardson in a January letter to President Barack Obama, which said the elected county law enforcement officials were "prepared to trade our lives" in defense of the Second Amendment.
"Malevolent souls, like the criminals who commit mass murders, will always exploit valuable instruments in the pursuit of evil … lawful violence must sometimes be employed to deter and stop criminal violence," the letter said. "Consequently, the citizenry must continue its ability to keep and bear arms, including arms that adequately protect them from all types of illegality."
Salt Lake County Sheriff Jim Winder was the only sheriff in the state who did not sign the letter.
The Sunset resolution will be sent to Obama, Utah's congressional delegation, the governor, the attorney general, state legislators representing Davis County, the Utah Association of Counties, the Utah League of Cities and Towns and Richardson.
Twitter: @PamelaMansonSLC