No Firearms in Springville's Canyon Parks

[rccooley]

I'm about a week behind posting this, but over Labor Day weekend my wife, a couple friends and I spent a night at Jolley's Ranch Campground in Hobble Creek Canyon. I'm not usually one for cramp grounds on holiday weekends, but my we wanted to go camping and our wives insisted there be an actual restroom near by. Anyway, it was as crowded as I expected. I was OCing my Dan Wesson PM-7 when the lady managing the campground stopped by to ask my friend for some sort of proof of Springville Residency (I guess Springville residents get a discount), she looked over at me and immediately asked if that was a gun on my hip.

Me: I politely nodded and said "yes ma'am."
Her: We don't allow guns in the campground, or in any of the Canyon Parks for that matter.
Me: Oh, really. I though the parks were operated by the city.
Her: They are, but the city doesn't allow guns.
Me: I'm sorry I have to inform you that the city can't make that regulation. Utah's uniform firearm laws only allow the city to regulate discharge of firearms.
Her: Oh, really? Well, can you please just leave it in your car?
Me: if it would make you feel better I have a concealed firearm permit and can conceal it.
Her: No, never-mind. It's almost dark anyway. Just don't scare anybody.
Me: Thanks, and I think I will contact the city attorney about those signs.
Her: That's a good idea.

So the next morning as we leave we stop at the entrance to the camp ground and the sign does indeed say not firearms. We stop at the Jolley's Ranch Park entrance as well and it says the same thing. So as soon as I got home I checked the city website and the same restriction was listed there, son I drafted the letter to the city attorney below and sent it off.


I am a Springville City resident I recently spent an evening camping at
Jolley's Ranch with my family. While there I was very disappointed to
discover that the city has restricted the possession of firearms within
the Canyon Parks. I was under the impression that the Canyon Parks were
operated by Springville City. If this is the case then I believe the
city is in violation of Utah Code Title 53 Chapter 5a Section 102 which
contains Utah's uniform firearm laws. I have quoted the relevant section
of code below.

53-5a-102. Uniform firearm laws.
(1) The individual right to keep and bear arms being a
constitutionally protected right under Article I, Section 6 of the Utah
Constitution, the Legislature finds the need to provide uniform civil
and criminal firearm laws throughout the state.
(2) Except as specifically provided by state law, a local authority
or state entity may not:
(a) prohibit an individual from owning, possessing, purchasing,
selling, transferring, transporting, or keeping a firearm at the
individual's place of residence, property, business, or in any vehicle
lawfully in the individual's possession or lawfully under the
individual's control; or
(b) require an individual to have a permit or license to purchase,
own, possess, transport, or keep a firearm.
(3) In conjunction with Title 76, Chapter 10, Part 5, Weapons, this
section is uniformly applicable throughout this state and in all its
political subdivisions and municipalities.
(4) All authority to regulate firearms is reserved to the state
except where the Legislature specifically delegates responsibility to
local authorities or state entities.
(5) Unless specifically authorized by the Legislature by statute, a
local authority or state entity may not enact, establish, or enforce any
ordinance, regulation, rule, or policy pertaining to firearms that in
any way inhibits or restricts the possession or use of firearms on
either public or private property.
(6) As used in this section:
(a) "firearm" has the same meaning as defined in Subsection
76-10-501(9); and
(b) "local authority or state entity" includes public school
districts, public schools, and state institutions of higher education.
(7) Nothing in this section restricts or expands private property
rights.

To summarize my understanding of this, it states that unless
specifically authorized by the Legislature a local authority (in this
case Springville City) may not enact, establish, or enforce any rule,
regulation, or policy which would restrict possession of firearms on
public property (meaning the Canyon Parks).

The city has the "no firearm" regulation clearly stated on the
Springville City website on the Canyon Parks page under General
Regulations, and printed on the signs at the entrance to the Jolley's
Ranch Park and the Jolley's Ranch Campground (I have photographs of
both). I have not checked signs at the other Canyon Parks, but would
assume they state the same restriction.

I would appreciate your urgent attention to this matter as I feel it is
a violation of my rights and the rights of all individuals who visit the
parks under Article I, Section 6 of the Utah Constitution and under the
Second Amendment to the US Constitution. If Springville City is in fact
in violation of Utah Code I would expect the website and all offending
signs to be corrected and all parks employees to be informed of the
relevant laws.

Thank You,


Then this morning I received this response.

Mr. Cooley,

Thank you for your email. Your concerns are being addressed, and you
should see changes in the very near future.

Thanks -

John Penrod
Springville City Attorney


I checked their website immediately and found that the regulations prohibiting firearms had been changed to only prohibit the discharge. I will keep an eye on the signs at the park.

[Snurd]

Just like an over cooked steak. Well done!

[UtahJarhead]

WOW! Fantastic work for both you AND the city attorney!

[LadyIsadora]

Excellent work Dahling! Way to go

[Cinhil]

Excellent work! Great way to keep your cool too. Your letter was very succinct and to the point. It is good to see that response was immediate and something is done about this. You may want to follow up and see if education of the managers of the parks has occurred. Nicely done!

[Ruminus]

All I can say is thank you for your efforts and great job!

[JAMed]

Nice! I'm not sure I have that kind of direct brass, yet. Seeing others do it, and how they do it, might help. Thanks for doing it right and passing on the blueprints.

[rccooley]

Thanks for the comments everyone. This is really the first time that anyone has approached my about OC. I've been open carrying pretty regularly for about a year now. I guess the biggest thing is deciding how your are going to handle the situation before you are put in it, know the laws and be polite. I'm not usually that forward or vocal. As you can probably tell by my activity on the forum I'm usually more of the quiet type. This was kind of a different step for my, but I like it.

I am very impressed with Springville City for taking action on this so quickly. I just hope that they follow through with the signs and educating their parks employees. I'm tempted to plan another overnight stay there in the next couple weeks just to check out the situation (even though I HATE campgrounds). The funny thing is that they only had this restriction posted at the Canyon Parks. The rest of the parks in the city don't have it posted either at the park or online.

[Daeyel]

This is the process Ohio Concealed Carry group follows to remove illegal laws. They approach the city to have them removed, and, if negotiations are unsuccessful, they sue. They have sued 2 townships, and won one, the other is pending - but the city attorney is backtracking VERY fast. Too bad his goose is cooked, because OCC has his past communications where he said, basically, fuhgeddaboudit.
Funny how the attitude of 'public servants' changes when you shine a light on them in court

[RustyShackleford]

Great way to make a difference in your community.... Follow through

[divegeek]

Good job!

And nice job by the city attorney, too. Pretty much the same thing happened when I contacted Layton about their city ordinances, except the answer was "we know, we're already working on it". A few cities (ahem, Logan) have been more resistant, though.

[UtahCFP]

Ya know, there are enough specific and positive examples to be "newsworthy". It has the "grab the attention" kind of byline that local news outlets might go for. Perhaps we should roll together a nice background piece and zing it to Clark Aposhian to see if he could muster some attention.

[Daeyel]

I am all for that, so long as it names the city attorney by name, and lavishes all kinds of praise upon him for doing the right thing, and potentially saving the city from a costly lawsuit.

[UtahCFP]

I am all for that, so long as it names the city attorney by name, and lavishes all kinds of praise upon him for doing the right thing, and potentially saving the city from a costly lawsuit.

I'd tend towards the pure positives; lavish praise for city attorneys, upholding the law 'cause it's the right thing to do , positives Utah has seen with regard to upstanding citizens upholding the law, and so on. "Lawsuit" is a negative term, even if framed in a positive light.

[rccooley]

I have an update. Friday evening my wife and I took a drive up the canyon and decided to stop at the park. To my surprise they have crossed off the "no firearms" rule and have a small sign posted next to it stating "no discharge".


(click for larger image)

I also stopped and spoke with a parks employee that I saw there and they have all been notified of the rule change and why it changed.