PA Bill Number: HB335
Title: In inchoate crimes, further providing for prohibited offensive weapons.
Description: In inchoate crimes, further providing for prohibited offensive weapons. ...
Last Action: Removed from table
Last Action Date: May 1, 2024
House Leadership Co-Sponsoring New Permitless Carry Bill :: 03/03/2016
BOISE • Another bill nixing the need for a concealed carry permit within city limits, this time with House GOP leadership support, was introduced on Wednesday.
The bill would allow anybody to carry concealed within city limits who is older than 21 and not otherwise barred from owning a gun because of a felony conviction, mental illness or other reason on a list that is already part of the law as a reason to deny a concealed carry permit, said Sen. Curt McKenzie, R-Nampa, who introduced the bill into the Senate State Affairs Committee.
“It makes our concealed carry law consistent between counties and cities,” said McKenzie, who is also chairman of that Senate committee.
Under current Idaho law, anybody who can legally own a gun can carry openly, and concealed carry is legal without a permit outside of city limits. A concealed carry permit is needed within a city, however.
The committee voted to print the bill, clearing the way for a hearing.
McKenzie’s bill is being co-sponsored by House Speaker Scott Bedke, R-Oakley, Majority Leader Mike Moyle, R-Star, House State Affairs Chairman Tom Loertscher, R-Iona, and Rep. Judy Boyle, R-Midvale, who has been part of an informal group of lawmakers who vets gun-related legislation. It is the third bill to get rid of the need for a concealed carry permit in city limits to be introduced this year. The first two were brought by Reps. Ron Nate, R-Rexburg, and Heather Scott, R-Blanchard.
A growing number of states are dissolving requirements for a concealed carry permit, and similar bills have been introduced in a few other statehouses this year. The idea is called “constitutional carry” by its supporters.
The Idaho Second Amendment Alliance has been lobbying for permitless carry in Idaho, holding a rally recently that drew hundreds of supporters to the state Capitol. The group introduced a permitless carry bill last year, which the GOP leadership blocked in favor of a gun code rewrite that, among other changes, clarified that a permit isn’t needed outside of city limits.
ISAA head Greg Pruett said Wednesday he hadn’t had a chance to look over McKenzie’s bill. The group had previously said it could support one of Nate and Scott’s bills, with some minor tweaks.
Hannah Sharp, a volunteer with the Idaho chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, pointed to a poll the group commissioned last year in which 81 percent of respondents said they favor a concealed carry permitting system. Conducted by SurveyUSA, it was of 718 voters and had a 3.7 percent margin of error on that question.
“Our legislators in the statehouse should be more focused on working to keep guns out of dangerous hands instead of putting public safety at risk,” she said.
