Bill would allow young adults to conceal carry handguns in Idaho cities | Idaho Statesman

The Idaho House State Affairs Committee on Tuesday voted to advance a bill allowing 18- to 20-year-olds to conceal carry a handgun in city limits without a permit.

In 2016, Idaho passed a constitutional carry bill which allows someone age 18 or older to, without a permit, conceal carry firearms anywhere in the state. That came with an exception: 18- to 20-year-olds could not conceal carry a handgun within city limits.

Under the proposed law, that exception would go away.

“This will lower the age to 18 and above to be able to carry conceal without a permit a handgun in the city limits, which is already legal everywhere in the state of Idaho except in the city limits which constitutes less than 1 percent of the real estate in the state of Idaho. ... They can already carry a long gun or shotgun concealed in the city limits,” said Rep. Christy Zito, R-Hammett, who co-sponsored the bill with Rep. Julianne Young, R-Blackfoot.

“(This bill) also points us back to the principal that by giving responsible citizens the ability to defend themselves, we actually lower gun violence and other deaths that we wish to prevent,” Young told the committee.

By expanding permitless conceal carry, “Is there any reason to have a license to carry a concealed weapon anymore in Idaho?” Rep. John Gannon, D-Boise, asked.

Zito responded: “Some people do choose to get their conceal-carry permit because it aids in reciprocity with other states. There are states that do not honor full constitutional carry from citizens of other states.”

The committee voted 13-2 to send HB 206 to the House floor with a “do-pass” recommendation. Democratic Boise Reps. Gannon and Brooke Green voted no. The third Democrat on the committee, Pocatello Rep. Elaine Smith, voted yes.

During the short hearing on the bill, three people spoke in favor of the bill. None spoke against it.

“Law-abiding adults who are between the age of 18 and 21 do not have the right to permit-less conceal carry within city limits,” said 16-year-old Adrik Fisher from Mountain Home. “Constitutional rights should not be denied to law-abiding adults based on age or location.”

The bill carries a special significance for Fisher, he said. In a little over a year, he will turn 18 and be old enough to vote.

“I will be legally old enough to purchase a firearm, and I will also be old enough to carry a firearm concealed throughout the state but only outside of city limits,” he said. “I will also be old enough to be conscripted into the military. It is my firmly held belief if I can be drafted and called overseas to bear arms in defense of my country, I ought to be allowed to freely keep and bear arms in defense of myself and my family here at home.”

Under Idaho law, the minimum age to purchase a handgun from a federally licensed gun dealer or retailer is 21. Someone age 18 to 20 can privately purchase a handgun or receive one as a gift.

Greg Pruett, of Caldwell, represented the Idaho Second Amendment Alliance at the hearing. He spoke in favor of the bill.

“Outside of city limits 18- to 20-year-olds can already conceal carry with no permit,” Pruett said, “They can also open carry those handguns everywhere in the state including inside of city limits. Basically what this bill does is, inside city limits, it allows them to put a coat on when it is cold outside. That is the only difference. … The reality is they can already do these things everywhere in the state openly and almost all of the state concealed.”