TWIN FALLS -- Authorities and gun purveyors in Idaho agree: protecting gun rights promotes safety and reduces crime.
Mobilizing Congress to share the same position has drawn attention to Idaho's gun laws.
"Anybody with any common sense knows, if there is a possibility an individual may be armed, you stand a good chance of coming out the loser in this deal," said Capt. Ike Maxson of the Twin Falls County Sheriff's Office.
U.S. Rep. Butch Otter, R-Idaho, has brought the state to the forefront of a national debate about gun control laws. His bill now being debated in Congress would help protect the gun rights of Idahoans traveling out of state.
In the Twin Falls County courthouse, Maxson reviews applications for concealed weapon licenses. If an applicant is over 21, has completed the hunter's education course and has a clean record, he issues them a license.
Jim Brennan, 57, sells guns at Magic Valley Pawn and Loan. "In this community, you don't see people break in because they know they (residents) have guns," he said.
His co-worker, Jim White, 67, has worked at the pawnshop for 46 years. "My general feeling is whoever is hiding a gun is doing it for a reason," he said, but added he still thinks there is probably a need for the concealed permit in some circumstances.
Overhearing White's comment, a customer interjected that she conceals her gun to prevent it from being stolen.
People are more squeamish about seeing guns in public than they used to be, explains Maxson. "With the mentality of a lot of people, they go ballistic ... if you brandish a gun in public."
Christy Newlan, 35, manages Main Street Pawn and Collectibles. Although she supports the overall licensing program, she is concerned some of the wrong people pass through the screening.
In June 2003, her 14-year-old daughter, Whitney, was hit by a random bullet fired into her house. The 16-year-old shooter was charged with aggravated battery and discharge of a firearm at an occupied dwelling, neither charge implying intent to kill. He was sentenced to 360 days confinement in the juvenile detention center.
After he turned 18, his juvenile record was put behind him and he was legally allowed to own a gun.
"Unless his juvenile record has a heinous crime, it doesn't follow him into adulthood," Twin Falls County Sheriff Wayne Tousley said. Nor will it necessarily prevent him from obtaining a concealed weapons license when he turns 21, he said.
Crimes committed by adults, however, are tacked onto their records, unless expunged later by a judge.
But David Resz, 38, of Twin Falls, believes that regardless of age, if people commit a violent crime they should be stripped of their gun privileges.
"If you've ever been convicted of a felony - as a child or an adult - you should not have the right to bear concealed weapons," he said.
As for licenses, "the criminals are going to pack the guns with or without it," said Resz. "Only your law-abiding citizens follow the rules."
The protocol for obtaining a license has remained constant in Idaho for 16 years, according to Maxson. Otter's bill would require each state to recognize licenses issued in other states.
In a recent statement, Otter cited the right "to keep and bear arms" and argued that the Constitution empowers Congress to ensure that each state respects "...the public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings of every other state."
Thirty-eight states have concealed weapons licensing programs, four states do not allow any form of concealed weapons, and the remainder have no licensing program, according to a National Rifle Association study.
Restrictions on obtaining licenses vary state to state.
"There is nothing in the law that says a state has to recognize another state's weapon permit. If it is set up, it is usually set up in the attorney general's office," said Tousley. "Our advice is this: we tell everybody this permit is only good in the state of Idaho."
Idaho Code:
"You may carry a loaded handgun on your hip exposed without a concealed weapon permit, but you may get stopped by a police officer and asked some questions. If you carry a weapon in your vehicle, not exposed - in glovebox, under the seat, you have to have a concealed permit for that." - Twin Falls County Sheriff Wayne Tousley |
| To apply for a concealed weapon license, call Capt. Ike Maxson at 736-4178 |
| Follow the bill's progress, visit http://www.thomas.loc.gov and search for H.R. 1243, currently under review in the House Judiciary Committee. |
