Lawmaker wants to allow hockey fans to bring their guns to NHL games

Utah representative Candice Pierucci wants to allow concealed firearms into Utah Mammoth games at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City.

The Republican is also pushing for concealed firearms permit holders to carry at Utah Jazz NBA games, concerts and other events at the Delta Center.

“We’re a Second Amendment state,” said Rep. Pierucci to The Salt Lake Tribune today, “and we have a really robust concealed carry permit. … The idea would be that if you’re going to accept state dollars, we should at least have a discussion on if you’re going to prohibit someone’s Second Amendment rights while you’re there.”

Pierucci's new bill would require any private business that has received more than $1 million in public funding to allow concealed firearms permit holders to carry on their premises so as to not violate their Second Amendment rights.

It's worth noting that Ryan Smith, owner of both the Mammoth and the Jazz, has not issued a comment on the proposal.

Pierucci said she brought the bill forward after speaking with a Mammoth fan who was prevented from entering the Delta Center with his gun.

“They had tried to go in and, I think, given the safety climate, they would have felt better with their family had they been able to pack along their concealed [firearm] while walking around downtown,” she said.

As of June 30, 2025, there are 657,271 people with active Utah concealed firearms permits, according to the Department of Public Safety, but more than 400,000 of them live outside of Utah and got a permit because the state’s permit is recognized in at least 37 other states.