SALT LAKE CITY – The mother of a 15-year-old girl killed in the 2007 shooting at Trolley Square is calling for universal background checks on gun sales.

Carolyn Tuft lost her daughter Kirsten, who would be 21 years old now, and nearly lost her own life. Carolyn was shot three times that day, and she still lives with buckshot in her body.

“It’s always in the back of my head. I think about her every day,” Tuft said.

Carolyn Tuft says universal background checks are a “no-brainer,” and she took her message to Washington last year, meeting with U.S. Sen. Mike Lee. But she says nothing came from that meeting.

“He just said he was sorry and he liked guns and he felt there was no need for change,” Tuft told FOX 13 on Thursday.

Sen. Lee opposes a measure to require universal background checks and stricter gun control laws. He says those regulations wouldn’t make a difference.

SALT LAKE CITY — Zions Bank released the results of its March Utah Consumer Attitude Index Tuesday, showing Utah has a consumer confidence index rating of 78.9, about 19 points higher than a national rate, also released Tuesday, by a New York group called The Conference Board.

The Zions Bank report compiles the results of a survey of 500 Utah households regarding opinions and expectations related to the economy.

Economic topics such as business conditions, employment, income, home prices, gas prices, federal economy, state economy, inflation, investments and living standards are addressed in the survey.

“We have definitely seen an improvement in terms of spending habits,” said Andre Tsalpatouros, who owns a local bakery. “Last year, we could say that people were extremely price conscious and price driven. We have now a new trend where people are more looking for better value altogether.”

SALT LAKE CITY – Employees at the Utah Republican Party’s headquarters were greeted by graffiti on Monday morning.

A party spokesperson believe the graffiti, which says “No tar sands,” happened over the weekend and they don’t know who did it.

He says this is the second time the building has been vandalized in the last month, and they haven’t filed a police report.

On Monday morning, the party tweeted a photo along with, “Disappointed to see graffiti on the UTGOP HQ. What American politics needs most is civility, not this. #utpol“