SALT LAKE CITY -- A collection of gun control supporters took a list of 20,000 signatures that were gathered online, most from outside of Utah, to Governor Gary Herbert's office Friday.
Their goal is to get the governor to support the right of public universities and colleges to keep guns out of meetings and assemblies.
The inspiration for the petition came from Anita Sarkeesian, the feminist critic of video games who canceled a speech at Utah State University after receiving death threats and asking the school to prevent guns from being present in the meeting space, which school officials said they could not do because of the state's laws regarding firearms.
Chelsi Archibald attended as the Utah representative of momsrising.com.
"I would prefer that in government assemblies and in freedom of speech assemblies that they keep their weapons at home and that we have a proper way to make sure people are safe without having civilians take it into their own hands,” Archibald said.
Clark Aposhian, Chairman of the Shooting Sports Council, said efforts like the petition are misguided.
"Permit holders, once they get a permit, are 20 times less likely to commit a crime than other citizens,” he said.
