On March 14 permitless carry legislation passed the Idaho Senate State Affairs Committee and now heads to the full Senate for a vote.
The bill–Senate Bill 1389–abolishes the concealed permit requirement for Idahoans 21-years and older who want to carry a handgun for self-defense. As with similar laws in Alaska, Arizona, Kansas, Maine, Montana, Vermont, Wyoming–and now, West Virginia–the Idaho legislation will retain the permitting process for those who want a permit for the purposes of reciprocity with other states.
Idaho already allows the open carry of handguns without a permit, so SB 1389 really just brings concealed carry in line with that same principle. It allows open carriers who put on a sweatshirt or other article of loose clothing in wintertime to remain legal if the clothes cover the gun.
According to the AP, Idaho Second Amendment Alliance president Greg Pruett summed it up this way: “You could really call this a ‘put on your coat’ bill. It allows gun owners to put on a coat without fear of breaking the law.”
Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America spoke against SB 1389 using very similar arguments to the ones that failed to derail pro-Second Amendment lawmakers in West Virginia. “If signed into law, SB 1389 would dismantle our current system and put Idahoans at risk, including law enforcement officers who risk their safety to protect us. So why are our elected leaders attempting to undo a system that has worked for a century and is supported by law enforcement?”
Moms Demand Action offered no proof for their claims. Nor did they indicate that other permitless carry states have experienced any of the tragedies Moms Demand routinely predicts.
AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.