SALT LAKE CITY -- One of the most revered gunmakers in history won't be sharing a holiday with one of the most revered civil rights activists in history.
Sen. Mark Madsen, R-Eagle Mountain, is proposing that Ogden native John Moses Browning be awarded a full holiday in Utah. Because Madsen didn't want to add another paid holiday, his plan is to double up with an existing one.
His first suggestion was Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which Utah celebrates on the third Monday in January. Browning's birthday is thought to be between Jan. 21-23, corresponding with that holiday.
But the NAACP strongly objected to that proposal.
"It is not acceptable for the name John M. Browning to jointly share the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday," said Jeanetta Williams, president of the NAACP's Salt Lake branch. King was assassinated by a man using a gun. John M. Browning was a gun manufacturer.
"To me, it's a very mean-spirited act. I'm not sure what is behind doing all of this."
Madsen shrugged it off Thursday.
"The intent was never to go someplace where we weren't wanted," he said.
He's now looking at other holidays, including Veterans Day, Pioneer Day and Labor Day, and is speaking to corresponding groups, such as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the AFL-CIO. The church declined to comment on the proposed legislation.
Madsen said he was approached about the holiday because next year is the 100th anniversary of the 1911 pistol.
That gun is considered groundbreaking in both design and effectiveness, having been the primary sidearm of the U.S. armed forces for decades.
"There's not a lot of people who can say they've made that kind of contribution," Madsen said.
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