It is the established position of the Utah Shooting Sports Council that the right of to keep and bear arms is a fundamental individual right that is recognized by the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States and in Article 1, Section 6 of the Constitution of the State of Utah. This right is individually held by and guaranteed to "the People", and is not a collective right held only by those that are part of any organized or unorganized group under the historic title or term of "militia".

     USSC maintains the position that the right of self-defense is our most fundamental natural, human and civil right. We also hold that as a clear extension of this fundamental human right, the ready access to a contemporary and effective means of self-defense is inherent in the exercise of this right. In most instances, the most readily available and effective means to that end is a firearm, most often a handgun. Nationally recognized contemporary research in the field of criminology confirms that firearms are used in lawful private self defense by Americans between 2 million and 2 1/2 million times every year to halt a criminal’s assault or to prevent or deter other criminal behavior. In the vast majority of these situations, the mere presence of a firearm is adequate to deter the criminal behavior. In only a very small minority of these situations is a shot fired or an assailant injured or killed.

     We believe that private citizens of demonstrated good character, with no history of unlawful violence, substance abuse or moral turpitude, who have demonstrated a familiarity with the safe use of a firearm, and of the applicable laws governing the use of force by a private citizen should have a readily-accessible and legal means to carry a concealed firearm while in the course of their everyday activities. Because of social and emotional reactions that may arise when a firearm is openly carried on or about one's person, we feel that in contemporary society, it is generally most appropriate that a firearm carried for lawful self-defense should carried in such a manner that the general public would not be aware of its presence upon casual or passing observation.

    Those jurisdictions which provide their citizens a readily-accessible and legal means to carry a concealed firearm generally enjoy a overall lower level of criminal behavior and violent crime. Those individuals who are licensed to carry a concealed firearm have clearly demonstrated they are not a threat to themselves, others, law enforcement or to the safety or good order of society as a whole. Those private citizens who elect to carry a firearms under these conditions are so seldom involved in any form of criminal behavior as to be nearly and statistically insignificant in local, state and federal crime reports.

Adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Utah Shooting Sports Council on January 8, 1996