Gun Control Bill Dies in Committee

While House Bill 415, allowing teachers with enhanced concealed carry licenses to carry on school property, languished in committee, Sen. Jim Guthrie introduced a competing idea in Senate Bill 1418. It quickly became clear that this bill was more about gun control than self defense, however.

H415 is simple: Teachers and staff who already have enhanced carry permits will be allowed to carry on campus. S1418 adds a lot of caveats. In its analysis of S1418, Idaho Freedom Foundation explains why this bill is so concerning:

Any school employee or member of a governing board who wants to carry a concealed weapon under Section 33-527, Idaho Code, would have to possess an enhanced carry permit and abide by the policies and limitations imposed by the board. These policies and limitations would include “personal qualifications for authorized employees and governing board members; appropriate firearms and ammunition; appropriate use of force; training, including initial and annual firearms re-qualification training; and nationally recognized active shooter and emergency response training or a course instructor or program recommended by a law enforcement agency.”

The term “personal qualifications” is particularly concerning, as it seems to invite school boards to adopt discriminatory policies regarding whose rights will be respected. It is also concerning that school boards — which have no specialized knowledge of firearms and ammunition — would be the ones to determine which firearms and ammunition are “appropriate” for a trained individual to carry.

Additionally, local education agencies “may require additional training beyond that required” to obtain an enhanced carry permit, and the “authorized employee or governing board member shall be responsible for the cost of training.” They may by policy offer reimbursement for the training but are not required to do so.

Gun rights organizations came out in opposition to this bill as well. Idaho Second Amendment Alliance sounded the alarm last Sunday and the National Rifle Association soon followed suit. Christy Zito, candidate for senate and political advisor to the ISAA, testified that this bill would codify “gun free zones” which not only infringe on citizens’ 2nd Amendment rights, but would inform criminals that the campus is a soft target.

School boards can currently craft policies allowing teachers and staff to carry. The purpose of H415 was to override the ability of school boards to restrict staff’s 2nd Amendment rights, but S1418 would have simply codified the ability of boards to do just that.

Many of the same people who testified against H415 were tepidly in favor of S1418. They lauded the “compromise” sought by Sen. Guthrie and the “common sense” restrictions the bill places on the ability of teachers and staff to carry firearms. Sen. Melissa Wintrow, the Senate Minority Leader, said during discussion that she never votes for gun bills but was convinced by testimony to support this one.

Sen. Chuck Winder led the opposition to the bill, moving to hold it in committee. He said there were some good things in this bill, but was concerned with the restrictions it created. A substitute motion by Sen. Abby Lee to send S1418 to the Senate amending order was defeated 4-5, and the motion to hold passed 5-4.

Every member of the committee lauded Sen. Guthrie for his work on the bill and agreed that this was a tough issue, but in the end a majority believed that the bill had too many problems to go forward. The final vote saw Sens. Guthrie and Lee joining Democrat Sens. Melissa Wintrow and James Ruchti in favor, with Sens. Chuck Winder, Kelly Anthon, Treg Bernt, Mark Harris, and Ben Toews voting against.

H415 remains in the drawer in Senate State Affairs. If you would like it to have a full hearing, use emailidaho.com to share your thoughts with the committee.