A Utah state lawmaker is suggesting that not only should people committing a crime with a weapon be punished, but those who loan out the firearm should be held accountable as well.
Democratic Rep.-elect Andrew Stoddard has proposed the idea that anyone intentionally lending out a firearm which is subsequently used in a crime should be subject to a lawsuit, according to KSL.com.
“We’re obviously not going to put you on the hook for something you had no control over,”Stoddard said on KSL Newsradio’s “Dave and Dujanovic Show” on Thursday. “This is for cases where people are very obviously loaning their gun out to people and doing it intentionally, and then someone uses that gun to commit a violent offense.”
Today, I opened a bill file for the 2019 Utah legislative session to increase capacity for civil liability in cases like this. We should all agree that firearm ownership is not to be taken lightly. I look forward to working with the rest of the legislature to pass #LaurensLaw https://t.co/HnmXWE9uRy
— Andrew Stoddard For HD44 (@VoteStoddard44) December 19, 2018
The plan, which would see people being held responsible for someone else’s actions, is dubbed “Lauren’s Law” following the death of 21-year-old University of Utah senior Lauren McCluskey in October. McCluskey was shot to death by a parolee, 37-year-old Melvin Rowland, who killed her on campus before taking his own life, according to KSL.
McCluskey had ended the relationship after finding out Rowland was a sex offender who had given her a fake name, police said. Rowland reportedly borrowed the gun from a friend and said he wanted to take McCluskey target shooting, according to police.
“It will make people think twice before they loan their gun to someone else, or don’t leave it in a safe, or leave it in their car,” Stoddard told The Salt Lake Tribune. “Down the road, we can look at addressing the criminal issue, but I think right now there’s really a consensus that people who own guns, people who don’t, they’re all for responsible gun ownership.”
Rowland can’t be held accountable after his death, so the proposal is searching for a stand-in according to Clark Aposhian with the Utah Shooting Sports Council.
“He’s creating the lowest level yet of culpability to have someone other than the actual criminal stand in,” Aposhian said.
UT Representative-elect introduces ‘Lauren’s Law,’ legislation to make gun owners ‘think twice’ before loaning their gun to someone else. This Tweet from @jjmccluskey, Lauren’s mother, prompted Rep Andrew Stoddard to file the law https://t.co/RMZqjZfePk pic.twitter.com/vkr6e2D0ed
— Robin Cogan (@RobinCogan) December 21, 2018
Existing Utah law holds that a person can sue under these kinds of circumstances, he noted, adding that while it is possible to sue the owner of a gun that was borrowed by someone to commit a crime, it was not necessarily easy. The bill, Stoddard said “gives a defined way to pursue civil damages,” and could cut down the time and resources it would take to pin down the right statute and file the suit, he said. “It made sense given the tragic facts of the case.”
According to KSL:
Stoddard said in an interview he wants to promote responsible gun ownership and cut down on what he calls “casual gun-sharing culture.”
In Utah, it’s a crime for a gun owner to loan the weapon to someone who the owner knows intends to carry out a crime or someone who’s on parole for a violent crime. Stoddard said his bill would apply to civil suits and not criminal cases, but he may consider proposing a change to the criminal code.
“It will make people think twice before they loan their gun to someone else, or don’t leave it in a safe, or leave it in their car,” Stoddard told The Salt Lake Tribune. “Down the road, we can look at addressing the criminal issue, but I think right now there’s really a consensus that people who own guns, people who don’t, they’re all for responsible gun ownership.”
Stoddard’s proposal was naturally celebrated by the left.
UT Representative-elect introduces ‘Lauren’s Law,’ legislation to make gun owners ‘think twice’ before loaning their gun to someone else. This Tweet from @jjmccluskey, Lauren’s mother, prompted Rep Andrew Stoddard to file the law https://t.co/RMZqjZfePk pic.twitter.com/vkr6e2D0ed
— Robin Cogan (@RobinCogan) December 21, 2018
AMEN!
Finally – a law to hold gun owners responsible for their guns!
— ? BeaWyatt ? (@BVWyatt) December 21, 2018
But his simplistic view of holding gun owners accountable for another’s decisions were summarily slammed on social media.
If someone borrows your car and goes out and commits a hit and run, are you responsible for that?
— John Browning (@BryceFleetwood) December 22, 2018
Loan I can understand, but how do they define negligently allow?
— Quadboy (@Quadboy9) December 21, 2018
Utah Lawmaker Wants To Punish People For What Others Do: Let’s say you loan someone your car for the weekend. You don’t need it for whatever reason and they do, so you hand them the keys. It happens. Now, let’s say that friend gets into an accident and… https://t.co/iePgXjYglW
— Chris From WI (@ChrisFromWI) December 21, 2018
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Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida where she has been writing for the BizPacReview team since 2015.
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