Can someone living with a felon keep a stun gun in the house in Utah?

Question

I'm looking to get a stun gun for personal safety reasons, but I'm not sure if I can without moving out, since I live with a convicted felon. I live in Southern Utah. What are the restrictions on felons' access to stun guns here?

Answer 1

The felon-possession law is Utah Code Ann. §76-10-503, which distinguishes Category I restricted person and Category II restricted person, a complex definitions that distinguish felons in general and violent felons, as defined at Utah Code Ann. § 76-3-203.5. In the case stricter case, the law says:

(2) A Category I restricted person who intentionally or knowingly agrees, consents, offers, or arranges to purchase, transfer, possess, use, or have under the person's custody or control, or who intentionally or knowingly purchases, transfers, possesses, uses, or has under the person's custody or control:

(a) any firearm is guilty of a second degree felony; or

(b) any dangerous weapon other than a firearm is guilty of a third degree felony.

and in the less strict case:

(3) A Category II restricted person who intentionally or knowingly purchases, transfers, possesses, uses, or has under the person's custody or control:

(a) any firearm is guilty of a third degree felony; or

(b) any dangerous weapon other than a firearm is guilty of a class A misdemeanor.

The law does not impose any restrictions unrestricted people. A "dangerous weapon" is defined in 76-10-501(6)(a) as "a firearm; or an object that in the manner of its use or intended use is capable of causing death or serious bodily injury". They add a bit of subjectivity to their definition of "dangerous weapon" (i.e. "we'll decide after the fact if the thing is a dangerous weapon"), because:

(b) The following factors are used in determining whether any object, other than a firearm, is a dangerous weapon:

(i) the location and circumstances in which the object was used or possessed;

(ii) the primary purpose for which the object was made;

(iii) the character of the wound, if any, produced by the object's unlawful use;

(iv) the manner in which the object was unlawfully used;

(v) whether the manner in which the object is used or possessed constitutes a potential imminent threat to public safety; and

(vi) the lawful purposes for which the object may be used.

The felon could not have a stun gun with the intent to use it as a dangerous weapon, but it is not prohibited for a felon to have one to use on for legal purposes. There are contexts where stun guns are held to be dangerous weapons (United States v. Wallace, 800 F.2d 1509. Some states define stun guns as dangerous weapons, but that is not the case in Utah.

It is also illegal for an unrestricted person to "sell, transfer, or otherwise dispose of any firearm or dangerous weapon to any person, knowing that the recipient is" a restricted person, and in cases of flagrant negligence the court might find that allowing such a person access to a dangerous weapon constituted "transferring" the weapon.