By Devin Miller
249 years ago, a small bandwagon of residents stood between their local community and an army of more than 700 Redcoats at Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts. The goal of the Redcoat Army leaders was to seize Firearms and arrest political opponents to a regime thousands of miles away. Within a handful of hours on April 19, 1775 the remnants of that same Red Coat Army stumbled back to the drawing board of their barracks in Boston. Their mission was met with townspeople who reigned hell down on the enemy of a Free People. The Redcoats left with an unshakable confidence, only to return as a shambled, empty handed shell of its former self just hours earlier. Not a single firearm seized, not a single arrest made and no ban on private ownership of firearms was recognized ever again in America.
At least that’s the way it should have gone down. But that’s not how it completely was in the Idaho Legislative Session, let alone the United States Congress, in 2024. Instead we have a President seeking to do to American Citizens exactly what the King of England sought to do 249 years ago.
In March 2024, Joe Biden announced his intentions to be the next King George III by opening a “Red Flag Confiscation Center” out of the $1.2 Trillion Omnibus Bill that had the full blessing of a supposed “Republican” Majority House. Speaker Mike Johnson has gone full Tory through all of it, even killing a Resolution against warrentless FISA Surveillance while he was already on the Redcoat Bandwagon. Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson was quick to follow suit, even channeling his inner-“Patriot Act” Fanaticism by voting to shut down debate on the very notion of abiding to Constituents Searches and Search.
Why does a Republican House Speaker allow this? Why should Idahoans not hold elected officials accountable for not doing everything in their power to end this madness?
A year after Lexington and Concord, when those same small town renegades signed and ratified the Declaration of Independence, they made potently clear that the responsibility of Government is to secure rights that are endowed to us by our creator.
That’s the only thing we ask of every State Representative in Boise every legislative session. Everything else should be a distant second on the Idaho Legislatures Agenda. To secure our rights.
Have our Legislatures been doing that to protect our Second Amendment rights? Barely.
Here’s a rundown of all the Firearm related issues brought forth in the Legislature during the 2023-2024 Legislature. You might wanna study the actions of your Representatives (or lack thereof) on each one before heading to the polls in November:
Curbing “Merchant Code” Firearm Tracking:
One of the tactics of the Biden Administration to go after Gun Owners Private Purchases through Credit Card Companies selling purchase history to the government through the use of “Merchant Codes.” In response to this crackdown on firearm sales, a growing number of Republican states have stepped up to the plate to pass legislation protect Gun Owners Privacy and pass legislation to fight the selective Merchant Code tracing of all firearm related purchases. Idaho was a pioneer in this endeavor in the 2023 Legislative Session with the introduction and passage of H295. H295 is known as Idaho’s “Financial Privacy Act” for Firearm businesses up and down Idaho.
If you’re a Private Company and working on behalf of the Federal Government to infringe on our rights, you lose your status of being able to scream about “muah Private Corporations bein’ Regulated!” PERIOD.
H295 was the only good Gun Bill to and go to the Governor’s Desk in the 2023 Legislative Session, where he signed H295 into law.
Inspired by Idaho leading the charge for Gun Owners Financial Privacy, many powerful Credit Card Companies have stopped using Merchant Codes in Firearm Purchases. Good Riddance.
Stand-Your-Ground-Expansion:
As we’ve seen time and time again throughout America, Government DAs aren’t always friendly towards the everyday Citizen for exercising their human rights to defend themselves in situations where you’re life is threatened. In some infamous cases, Rogue DA Activists will seek to subvert our Justice system and punish everyday citizens in Criminal Court for the crime of defending their lives and the lives of other innocent people. Daniel Perry in the New York Subway, Jose Alba in the Harlem Convenience Store, Kyle Rittenhouse on the streets of Kenosha and plenty of other examples. These are the people who were/are threatened with Prison for exercising their duty to protect life and property.
If you don’t have rights to defend your life and property, you have no rights at all. PERIOD. Nobody knows that better than DAs like Alvin Bragg in Manhattan who wanna be Autocrats, NOT elected servants of the people.
Cases to criminalize this most fundamental basic right is why people in the Idaho Legislatures fighting for 2 Legislative Sessions now to expand Stand-Your-Ground. This legislation was stalled by Chairman Jim Guthrie in the Idaho Senate State Affairs Committee, 2 consecutive years in a row without even a hearing. I’m simply baffled that we can’t pass this legislation there.
Repeal of an Antiquated “Militia Parade Ban:”
In 1927, a Progressive era Idaho Legislature passed Idaho Code 46-802. This nearly Century Old Legislation serves as a mechanism for anti-Gun organizations like “Everytown” and “Moms Demand Action,” twin anti-2A Liberty Fragments on the payroll of Billionaire Activist Michael Bloomberg, to charge Gun Owners in Idaho for simply carrying guns in groups, as our Constitutional Carry Laws are supposed to protect without any Government Goose Stepping.
The Progressive Era of the early 20th Century was the early days of intrusion on Second Amendment Liberties. States like New York under the Sullivan Act were far from the only states to restrict their residents from carrying, selling and doing firearm related activities without slapping requirements for Government approval onto it.
In 1927, Idaho Code 46-802 went further than the New York Sullivan Act by banning the carrying of firearms in groups entirely.
Idaho Legislators have tried to repeal 46-802 for years at this point, and it’s always gotten stuck in committee upon passing across the Capitol rotunda every time.
In 2023, the Senate passed S1056 to repeal 46-802. It was never even heard across the rotunda in the House Transportation and Defense Committee.
In 2024, S1056 was reintroduced as S1240. Just like Stand-Your-Ground, it was never given a hearing to pass out of the Senate State Affairs Committee. Why is this happening?
Enhanced Concealed Carry Permits in Idaho Public Schools:
Gun Free Zones are a dire concern that needs to be abolished for the best chances to counter threats from lone wolf attacks. Every major School Massacre occurred in a School that is a Government designated “Gun Free Zone.”
In the 2024 Legislative Session, H415 was introduced and progressed in the legislature for a while. This would allow teachers with carry enhanced Concealed Carry Permits to defend Idaho Public Schools just like the bill that the State of Tennessee recently passed.
I’ll bet that the staff at Uvalde wished their staff was allowed this while their cowardly cops bumbled around for over a hour willing to let unarmed staff and students be murdered.
Like S1056 a year earlier, this bill in the form of H415 to harden our schools and abolish “Gun Free Zones” made progress moving across one end of the Capitol Rotunda only to die on the other end. H415 passed the House and was once again tabled in the Senate State Affairs Committee. Wow…
Chairman Jim Guthrie of Senate State Affairs DID, however, draft S1418. S1418 would have done away with Concealed Carry in many school districts that already have it and allowed more ability to let Liberal School Boards deny Permit holders who already meet all the criteria for an enhanced carry permit. Double Wow.
S1418 was defeated 5-4 in Senate State Affairs Committee, so at least there’s something good to come out of this issue.
S1418 Debacle: https://youtu.be/cxM-Kt6lrbA?si=tGOdgrGHJmVCgTQn
Response to the Idaho Supreme Court:
Idaho Carry Preemption Law saw a setback in June 2023 with the Idaho Supreme Court’s decision in Herndon v. City of Sandpoint. During a Music Festival in Sandpoint in 2019, the city leased out a public park to a music venue, which the venue made into a Gun Free Zone. In June 2023, the Idaho Supreme Court sided with the city against a couple people who were denied the ability to carry inside a City Park on the basis that leasing the park to a private venue made the park into private property. Scott Herndon was one of the plaintiffs in this case before he was even a Senator.
In response to this 5-0 decision, the Idaho Legislature passed S1275 and S1374.
S1275 Protects Business Owners who allow the carrying of firearms in their business from frivolous lawsuits.
The anti-2A Lobby is vengeful at bringing frivolous lawsuits against companies, individuals and anyone who they can to try and make exercising your 2A rights financially infeasible. Everytown’s lawsuit against Social Media Companies like YouTube for the crime of allowing any Pro-2A content onto its platform whatsoever is just a more recent example of this.
S1275 is intended to protect Businesses in Idaho (especially valuable to pro-2A small business owners) from such frivolous lawsuits as a result of allowing the carrying of Guns in their businesses.
S1374, meanwhile, lays some of the groundwork for establishing a private venues conditions for Gun Free Zones on State owned property by clarifying the constitutional carry of firearms on state property. Under S1374, only events contracted prior to hosting the event and labeled as a private venues can have that area as a “Gun Free Zone.” This will help clarify the states policies in response to Herndon v. City of Sandpoint. S1374 edged out of Senate State Affairs by a 5-4 vote majority.
Both S1275 and S1374 passed and were signed into law by the Governor while working on patching up some of the issues that arose from the ISC’s decision. Good start.
“Critical Infrastructure” Legislation:
Don’t like protests? Hate Constitutional Carry? If so, then you change the trespass code to railroad Gun Owners. How’s that for a horror show straight outta Orwells Animal Farm? Currently, Idaho “Trespass” Law requires a notification by the property owner before ignoring or refusing to leave can even be counted as a misdemeanor trespass charge.
The proposed revised code definition for “Critical Infrastructure” would manufacture felony charges against an individual carrying firearms and holding protests anywhere near the premises of whatever unelected state bureaucrats defines as “Critical Infrastructure.” Did you lawfully carry outside St. Luke’s? You would be a felon under this legislation. Did you use your 1A protest rights at a state run building against their anti-2A procedures? That would officially by a crime under this proposed “Critical Infrastructure” Code.
Tiananmen Square much?
This Wet Dream of Every Tyrant Ever came in the legislative form of H167. It was so awful that House Speaker Mike Moyle himself took one look at H167 and sent that CCP Policy back to Committee to die in a Committee Drawer. How or why it even passed through House Committee to begin with is disturbing enough.
This Nightmare on Legislative Print did return in 2024 as H519. It never got a hearing to pass the House Judiciary and Rules Committee. Awesome.
Protecting Gun Manufacturers:
The other issue on the defensive end of Idaho’s 2A Liberty is something we had to fight a bit more vigorously on. This has less to do with the Individual Exercising of Rights like Critical Infrastructure is and more to do with the Private sector.
The threat against Firearm Manufacturers through Frivolous Lawsuits comes in the form of repeated attempts to pass something called the “Cell Phone Bill.” This legislation would be a back door way to sue Cell Phone Companies for the exposure of Pornographic Content on Cell Phones.
What does that have to do with firearm manufacturers?
If we open up Pandora’s Box to suing a manufacturer for misuse of their products then there will be no legal justification for any anti-2A Judge in Idaho to apply it against Gun Manufacturers. This would be a back door method to sue the firearms industry like we see in California.
In 2023 we saw this legislation come up in the form of S1163. This Bill failed to pass the Senate Floor by a narrow margin of 17-18.
In 2024 it was brought back in the form of S1253. This one actually passed the Senate 23-12 on February 12 after Bill Sponsor Kevin Cook (District 32-Idaho Falls) successfully won Boise Democrats over to support S1253.
S1253 was ultimately tabled in House State Affairs Committee this year, where it died in Chairman Brent Cranes Drawer.
Gadsen Flag License Plate:
This Legislation doesn’t exactly address Guns in of itself, but it definitely has some positive and much needed impact in the protection of our rich Heritage of Firearms.
S1317, Sponsored by Senator Tammy Nichols in District 10, creates the Gadsen “Don’t Tread On Me” Rattlesnake design as an Idaho License Plate Design with vehicle registration.
The extra money paid by the extra couple hundred dollars in Registration Fees would go towards a child education grant for Firearm Safety Training Courses.
Gadsen Flag license plates with S1317 are also crucial in Idaho to beat back many of the anti-2A algorithms in media by helping students to learn about guns.
I was very passionate on this Bill, helping to take part in pushing it through the House. So was glad to take part in helping it pass through the legislature and be signed by the Governor.
SJM104
This isn’t legislation for firearm policy in Idaho, but it is better than nothing nonetheless. This Memorial, adopted by the Idaho Legislature, calls on the United States Congress to pass the “Hearing Protection Act.” The Hearing Protection Act is pending legislation in DC to clip the wings of ATF Overreach on Firearm Suppressors and yank the unnecessary red tape back to the laws that apply for regular firearms. The ATF should never have been drafting “rules” and enforcing it as law. Idahoans support the passage of the Hearing Protection Act in Congress to gut unconstitutional ATF restrictions on suppressors, and SJM104 states that Congress. I would say that the ATF should be a Convenience Store, NOT a Government Agency, but we’re just not there yet. Hopefully we will see that sometime in the future.
In summary, we passed a few Gun Rights Bills that are okay, but we are being stalled in any solid pro-gun legislation by a single Senate Committee. So far we’ve beat back both of the anti-2A issues facing the legislature. If we wanna make any REAL Pro-2A progress, however, we need to change out the leadership in the Senate State Affairs Committee, starting with Chairman Jim Guthrie and Pro-Tempe Chuck Winder. That’s why I strongly encourage all 2A Patriots in District 20 to vote for Josh Keyser on May 21st.
Progress for Pro-Gun Legislation is much slower than we had hoped. Hopefully the voters will get on board On May 21st and vote for much more Solid Pro-2A Candidates with GOA Endorsements.
Devin Miller is a citizen journalist in the Treasure Valley. Visit his YouTube channel Liberty Snippets for coverage of local politics in Idaho.
One Comment
Comments are closed.