When Mark and Patricia McCloskey were arrested and charged with multiple felonies by a Missouri prosecutor whose campaign was bankrolled by George Soros, gun owners were outraged.
After all, this was a violent mob of over 300 people who were threatening the McCloskey’s with murder, and who broke through a wrought iron gate just to get onto the property in the first place!
If there was ever a case where Stand-Your-Ground law should have protected gun owners from a hostile prosecutor, this should have been it! But it didn’t, because Missouri’s Stand-Your-Ground law has dangerous holes in it.
And that’s why I’m writing you today.
You see, while the Idaho Second Amendment Alliance made progress in making Idaho a true Stand-Your-Ground law state in 2017, the moderates in Boise stripped key sections of our bill out.
As a result, Idaho’s Stand-Your-Ground law has some of the same holes that Missouri’s Stand-Your-Ground law has! That means that you and I could be targeted by a politically motivated prosecutor — just like the McCloskey’s were — for the ‘crime’ of defending ourselves!
As Idaho’s largest and most effective gun rights organization, ISAA is already working to fix this problem and will be unveiling legislation to address this during the next legislative session.
But the number of moderates in Boise is growing by the day, and this is going to be an uphill battle from the beginning.
That’s why I hope you’ll immediately sign the OFFICIAL PETITION that we have prepared for you, urging your State Representative and State Senator to support this ISAA’s Stand-Your-Ground Expansion Act next session!
Strengthen Stand-Your-Ground Law NOW!
It shouldn’t be hard to fix Stand-Your-Ground law here in ‘red’ Idaho, after all, almost every politician in Boise claims to be ‘pro-gun.’ But the reality is far different, as ISAA members know.
So we’re going to need a massive amount of grassroots pressure to fix at least three problems in Idaho’s Stand-Your-Ground law.
>>> First, Idaho needs to provide criminal immunity for gun owners who use justifiable force to defend themselves, their loved ones, or a third party from a violent criminal attack.
If a person breaks the law and uses unjustifiable force, he should stand trial for it. But when a person was clearly defending themselves from a violent attack they should not be ‘McCloskey’d’ simply because a liberal prosecutor wants to advance a personal agenda.
Our legislation won’t prevent local authorities from conducting an investigation. But if that investigation doesn’t produce probable cause that you broke the law, you should not be charged.
>>> Second, Idahoans need an enactment clause for Stand-Your-Ground law, so gun owners can invoke these protections BEFORE they are put through the misery of a criminal trial.
Stand-Your-Ground laws don’t do much good for gun owners if you can only invoke them on appeal. At that point, your reputation has been destroyed, you’re likely bankrupt from legal fees, and the emotional toll on your family is incalculable.
Without clear guidance from the legislature, the courts are free to decide how and when gun owners can use these protections. And as we all know, they will never do what’s best for you and me!
>>> Third, we need to clarify that if you are charged in a criminal case and found ‘Not Guilty,’ the state or county agency that filed charges against you will be footing the bill.
Mark and Patricia McCloskey are a wealthy couple who could afford to hire the best attorneys to represent them. For many people, the cost of going toe-to-toe with the State of Idaho or a local county Prosecuting Attorney would be devastating.
With liberal prosecutors filing charges against gun owners on orders from George Soros, gun owners need protection from the financial devastation that accompanies these bogus charges.
Of course, this is Idaho, and it would be nice to assume that nothing like this could ever happen to a gun owner here. And, honestly, I used to think that way myself.
But Idaho is changing fast, and I think we all know that it’s not for the better as massive numbers of liberals from California, Oregon, and Washington are flooding into our state.
And these days, if you are forced to defend yourself or your family from a criminal in a liberal county (like Blaine or Bannock, etc.) it’s very possible that you could wind up facing politically motivated criminal charges!
Strengthen Stand-Your-Ground Law NOW!
But with hyper-moderates like State Senator Patti Lodge Chairing the State Affairs Committee — not to mention the opposition we’ll receive from the Attorney General’s office — we’re going to have to fight with everything we’ve got to get this done.
ISAA is preparing a massive grassroots mobilization program as we speak, to help us FLOOD the legislature with calls, emails, and petitions demanding their support for this bill.
We are going to be doing this through a multi-faceted campaign where we are going to be:
- Unleashing hard hitting digital and social media ads; that allow gun owners to get the facts while making it easy for them to share the ads with other gun owners online.
- Utilizing our massive email and direct mail programs to mobilize every gun owner in these and other targeted states; while it may seem ‘old fashioned,’ ‘Big Tech’ can’t censor these programs, allowing us to get critical information into the hands of gun owners across the state.
- Preparing targeted radio and possibly TV ad campaigns that we can roll out the moment that floor votes are announced; while it is expensive, nothing activates large numbers of gun owners quicker than a BIG radio and TV advertising blitz.
Like I said earlier, fixing Stand-Your-Ground law shouldn’t be asking that much of a legislature that claims to be pro-gun. But the moderates in Boise are entrenched, and it’s been a fight to pass every single gun bill in our history.
It was a FIGHT to finally pass Constitutional Carry into law in 2016. It was a FIGHT to pass the stripped-down version of Stand-Your-Ground law that we passed in 2017.
It was a FIGHT to lower the age limit on when Idahoans could carry a handgun, a bill we passed in 2019. It was a FIGHT to get rid of the residency requirements on Constitutional Carry, a bill we passed into law in 2020. And it was a FIGHT to expand our Second Amendment Preservation Act law earlier this year.
And it’s going to be another fight to fix the problems that this legislature created when they weakened the Stand-Your-Ground law that ISAA brought forward a few years ago. I’m counting on your help!
Strengthen Stand-Your-Ground Law NOW!
ISAA is preparing to go ‘all in’ with the program I outlined above, to make sure that what happened to Mark and Patricia McCloskey can never happen to a law abiding gun owner here in Idaho!
I know that’s a lot, and possibly more than you’ve given in the past. But Idaho is in a critical spot right now. The moderates and the raging leftists in Boise are rapidly gaining ground. It’s vital that we address our weak Stand-Your-Ground law while we have the votes to get it done!
I’ll be honest, the summer and fall months are always hard on the Idaho Second Amendment Alliance’s budget as our members are spending time outdoors, taking trips with their loved ones, and just enjoying their life.
But this is a fight that can’t wait. It’s a fight that we must win. So please sign your official petition, and make a generous donation TODAY!
For Idaho,
Greg Pruett
President
Idaho Second Amendment Alliance
P.S. The same loopholes in Missouri’s Stand-Your-Ground law that allowed a Georgia Soros backed prosecutor to go after Mark and Patricia McCloskey for the ‘crime’ of defending themselves against a group of thugs, are on the books here in Idaho.
ISAA is already gearing up for the upcoming legislature, and will be mounting a major effort to fix the issues with Idaho’s Stand-Your-Ground law — issues that were caused when the moderates in Boise weakened our bill in 2017!
Please sign your OFFICIAL PETITION in support of ISAA’s Stand-Your-Ground Expansion Act immediately!
When you do, I really hope you’ll consider making a donation of $100, $75, $50, or at least $25 so that we can mobilize a massive number of gun owners to put pressure on the moderates in Boise!