(A) Prohibitions. Notwithstanding any other law, regulation, rule or order to the contrary, no agent, department, employee or official of Garfield County, a political subdivision of the State of Utah, while acting in their official capacity, shall:
(1) Knowingly and willingly, participate in any way in the enforcement of any unlawful act, as defined in division (B) below, regarding personal firearms, firearm accessories or ammunition; or
(2) Utilize any Garfield County assets, funds or funds allocated by any entity to Garfield County, in whole or in part, to engage in any activity that aids in the enforcement or investigation relating to an unlawful act in connection with personal firearms, firearm accessories or ammunition.
(B) Definition.
(1) An UNLAWFUL ACT shall consist of any federal or state act, law, order, rule or regulation, which restricts an individual’s constitutional right to keep and bear arms, including any federal or state act, law, order, rule or regulation which bans or effectively bans, registers or effectively registers, or limits the lawful use of firearms, firearm accessories or ammunition.
(2) Any such UNLAWFUL ACT is invalid in Garfield County and shall not be recognized by Garfield County, shall be considered null, void and of no effect and this includes, but shall not be limited to the following:
(a) Any tax, levy, fee or stamp imposed on firearms, firearm accessories or ammunition not common to all other goods and services on the purchase or ownership of those items by citizens;
(b) Any registration or tracking of firearms, firearm accessories or ammunition;
(c) Any registration (except for those requirements associated with the point of sale) or tracking of the owners of firearms, firearm accessories or ammunition;
(d) Any act forbidding the possession, ownership or use of any type of firearm, firearm accessory or ammunition by citizens of the legal age of 18 and over, other than pursuant to federal law background check requirements for transfers or purchases through FFL dealers;
(e) Any act ordering the confiscation of firearms, firearm accessories or ammunition from citizens;
(f) Any prohibition, regulation and/or use restriction related to ownership or the constitutionally guaranteed lawful use or carry of firearms;
(g) Any prohibition, regulation and/or use restriction regarding the transportation and/or storage of firearms and/or ammunition;
(h) Anyone within the jurisdiction of Garfield County, State of Utah, accused to be in violation of this section may be sued in the District Court of the State of Utah for declaratory and injunctive relief, damages and attorney’s fees. Neither sovereign nor official or qualified immunity shall be an affirmative defense in cases pursuant to this section.
(C) Enforcement. Any peace officer may enforce this section.
(D) Exceptions.
(1) The protections provided to citizens by this section do not apply to persons who have been convicted of felony crimes or who are prohibited from possessing firearms under federal law and state law by a finding of a court of competent jurisdiction that such individual is incompetent.
(2) This section is not intended to prohibit or affect in any way the prosecution of any crime for which the use of, or possession of, a firearm is an aggregating factor or enhancement to an otherwise independent crime.
(3) This section does not prohibit individuals in Garfield County from voluntarily participating in assisting in permitting, licensing, registration or other processing of applications for concealed carry permits, or other firearm, firearm accessory or ammunition licensing or registration processes that may be required by law.
(4) This section does not prohibit excise tax on guns and ammunition remitted for hunting, fishing and other conservation efforts.
(Ord. 2021-4, passed 6-28-2021; Ord. 2021-8, passed 8-23-2021) Penalty, see § 130.99