Gehrke: Utah’s School Safety Commission surprised me — by coming up with real gun-related recommendations

Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune The Salt Lake Tribune staff portraits. Robert Gehrke. In the days after the massacre of 14 students and three staff members at a high school in Parkland, Fla., lawmakers in Utah were generally at a loss on how to respond — and were unable to pass any legislation to protect Utah schools. What they were able to do — set up an informal Utah School Safety Commission to look into possible responses to the spate of school shootings — appeared to me like window dressing. A group that would meet simply to create the illusion of action while the issue fades from headlines. In April, I wrote about how state Rep. Mike Kennedy, who assembled the commission, had been kissing up to gun advocates as part of his U.S. Senate campaign, and that including the state’s most prominent gun lobbyist, Clark Aposhian, made it clear the group wasn’t serious about coming up with real solutions . The commission’s recommendations last week were remarkably thorough and striking in the degree to which they were able to reach consensus on sensible steps that could prevent gun violence. Take, for example, the red-flag laws. These laws would allow a family member or law enforcement to seek a court order to temporarily confiscate firearms from individuals deemed to pose an extreme risk to themselves or others. Last week, the Delaware Legislature became the 11th state to pass a red-flag law and the sixth this year. One […]

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