This Idaho town becomes the newest ‘Second Amendment sanctuary city.’ What that means
Kuna officials voted Tuesday night to approve a resolution declaring the town a “Second Amendment sanctuary city,” promising to “oppose the enactment of any legislation that would infringe upon the rights of the people to keep and bear arms.”
The Kuna City Council voted unanimously in favor of the resolution without discussion on the topic.
The idea of a Second Amendment sanctuary city is largely modeled on the idea of sanctuary policies in generally progressive, much larger cities. In a standard sanctuary city, officials limit cooperation with efforts to enforce federal immigration law. In cities that proclaim themselves Second Amendment sanctuaries, officials say they won’t enforce laws they see as infringing upon the use of firearms and ammunition.
In Kuna, the largely symbolic resolution says that the council will not “appropriate any funds for any enforcement of unconstitutional laws.”
“The people of Kuna, Idaho affirm support of the Kuna Police Department and, additionally, specifically to exercise sound discretion to not enforce against any citizen any unconstitutional laws” from the Idaho Legislature or the U.S. Congress, the resolution reads.
As the Statesman has previously reported, state legislators in Idaho often opt to reduce restrictions on guns instead of increasing control. In 2019, the Legislature lowered the age at which one could carry a concealed weapon to 18 from 21. Guns & Ammo, a magazine dedicated to firearms, has repeatedly rated Idaho one of the most gun-friendly states in the country.
In Ada County, Star and Eagle voted last year to become Second Amendment sanctuary cities. Nampa, in Canyon County, and Lewisville, in Jefferson County, also voted to do so, although Nampa’s resolution removes the word “sanctuary.” The language in Kuna’s resolution is identical to the language used by Star, Eagle and Lewisville.
Hundreds of cities and counties across the country have adopted similar resolutions. The Trace, a nonprofit newsroom that covers guns, estimated the number of municipalities with a similar resolution to be more than 400 as of January 2020.
Kuna, a suburb of Boise, had 22,257 people as July 2019, according to data from the Census Bureau.
This story was originally published January 5, 2021 at 7:27 PM.
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