Updated March 27, 1 p.m.:
Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter has signed a bill allowing Idaho citizens over the age of 21 to conceal-carry firearms without a permit inside city limits.
The bill also allows Idahoans between the ages of 18 and 21 to conceal carry firearms without a permit at the discretion of local sheriffs.
Critics of the bill said it upends a century of Idaho law barring the concealed-carry of firearms without a permit inside city limits, and many worried its passage would have unintended consequences on the rate of gun violence. Its proponents said it smoothed Idaho law and strengthened Second Amendment freedoms.
In signing the bill into law, Otter offered a letter to the Legislature and the public stressing the language of the Second Amendment and voicing concern about the absence of a provision in the bill requiring firearms training for permitless concealed weapons carriers.
“Such a safeguard would seem to be part of the Second Amendment’s ‘well-regulated’ standard,” he wrote.
“In the absence of such a provision, I encourage anyone considering concealed carry to take advantage of gun safety training opportunities available from many reputable sources throughout Idaho. I also encourage the Legislature to monitor the exercise of this new law and respond appropriately when and if the lack of a statutory education and training requirement undermines public safety.”
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