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Utah Lockpicking Law

Want to buy a lockpick in Utah? Wondering if it's legal?

Here's the actual text of the Utah law about lock picks and other 'instruments for burglary':

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76-6-205. Manufacture or possession of instrument for burglary or theft.

Any person who manufactures or possesses any instrument, tool, device, article, or other thing adapted, designed, or commonly used in advancing or facilitating the commission of any offense under circumstances manifesting an intent to use or knowledge that some person intends to use the same in the commission of a burglary or theft is guilty of a class B misdemeanor.

Enacted by Chapter 196, 1973 General Session

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My non-authoritative interpretation of this is: if you're carrying a lockpick while climbing over somebody's fence at night, the lockpick will get you in extra trouble. But you had to have already been doing something that evidenced intention to commit a burglary. (By way of contrast -- if you were climbing that same fence with a Unix live-CD, the CD wouldn't get you in extra trouble.)

Just having one and picking your own locks is fine. And my birthday is coming up soon!

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This page contains a single entry from the blog posted on January 25, 2007 11:19 AM.

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