<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span></span></div><div><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span></span></div><div><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Courtesy of today's (March 11, 2014) Spokesman-Review.</div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">-----------------------------------</div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><div id="contentspanok"><h1 style="font-size: 28px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; clear: both; line-height: 1.2; color: rgb(17, 17, 17); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Idaho senators vote to keep concealed weapon privileges</h1><p style="margin-bottom: 21px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">BOISE – Idaho lawmakers will keep their concealed-gun privileges, after senators on Monday killed legislation that would have repealed the special exemption.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 21px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In Idaho, elected officials may carry concealed weapons without a permit.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 21px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Among the leading advocates of killing the House-passed bill was Sen. Russ Fulcher, R-Meridian, who is running for governor.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 21px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Fulcher decried House Bill 514 as “political correctness,” and said, “This was put in statute for a reason. I believe it was for a good reason.”</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 21px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“We do not need to relinquish our privileges,” he said.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 21px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The House passed the bill after the special exemption made news last year. Former Rep. Mark Patterson, R-Boise, had his concealed weapon permit revoked by the county sheriff for not revealing an attempted rape conviction from the 1970s. However, as long as he remained a legislator, Patterson was able to continue carrying a concealed gun without a permit.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 21px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The House vote on Feb. 27 was 62-7 in favor of the bill; among the seven opponents were two North Idaho lawmakers, Reps. Shannon McMillan, R-Silverton, and Kathy Sims, R-Coeur d’Alene.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 21px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Fulcher and several other members of the Senate State Affairs Committee, which killed the bill, said lawmakers often are threatened and face special circumstances that justify the exemption. “I personally on this committee have walked out of this room and been threatened,” he said. “I have had my life threatened multiple times.”</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 21px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Sen. Marv Hagedorn, R-Meridian, the bill’s Senate sponsor, said in those situations, lawmakers can get concealed weapon permits just like their constituents. “We should fall under the same standards as the citizens we are writing these statutes for,” he said.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 21px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Idahoans must get at least some gun safety training to obtain a concealed weapons permit; elected officials are now exempt from that requirement.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 21px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“This has nothing to do with political correctness, in my opinion,” Hagedorn said. “It has everything to do with preparation. If you know that you are going into a contentious job as an elected official, it is your responsibility to be prepared to go into that job. And training is appropriate.”</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 21px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In addition to removing the elected-official exemption, the bill broadened Idaho’s concealed-carry law to clarify that anyone could carry a concealed weapon without a permit outside city limits; that’s now allowed only while hunting, fishing or pursuing other outdoor activities. Hagedorn noted that the National Rifle Association and the Idaho Sheriffs’ Association supported the bill.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 21px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Senate Majority Leader Bart Davis, R-Idaho Falls, said he never had gun-safety training as a youngster. “I’m Exhibit A as to why maybe we should encourage people like me to at least go through some additional training and teaching,” he said.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 21px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">But Sen. Jeff Siddoway, R-Terreton, said, “We are giving up our freedoms, we are giving up our liberties. We have the ability now to carry, and I think that most of the citizens realize that we are in a different situation than the average guy on the street.”</span></p></div></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">-----------------------------------</div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">House Bill 514</div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><a href="http://www.legislature.idaho.gov/legislation/2014/H0514.htm">http://www.legislature.idaho.gov/legislation/2014/H0514.htm</a></span><br><br><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .</span></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)</span></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><a href="http://www.moscowcares.com/" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><font color="#000000">http://www.MoscowCares.com</font></a></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Tom Hansen</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Moscow, Idaho</span></div></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"There's room at the top they are telling you still.</span></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">But first you must learn how to smile as you kill,</span></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">If you want to be like the folks on the hill."</span></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">- John Lennon</span></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></div></div></div></div></body></html>