Law Enforcement
Are You Packin’ Heat?
February 25, 2006 
A bill being discussed in the Idaho Legislature would allow people to carry loaded firearms concealed in their vehicles–a practice which is currently illegal and not a favorite with cops.
Before the lawmakers start diddling with the law, they should read it. A simple reading of the current law seems to say that Federal Express and UPS drivers can also pack heat under their uniforms without fear of police intervention as well.
The mainstream media didn’t tell you about the real scary thing with the existing law. Here is an excerpt of Idaho Code 18-3302 which allows just about anyone who writes laws or is elected to office to carry a loaded piece without scrutiny…this includes school board members, city councilors, legislators, fire district commissioners, prosecutors and judges. We can tell you that a lot of these people pack heat on a regular basis.
Check out the exemptions from the concealed weapons law:
(12) The requirement to secure a license to carry a concealed weapon under this section shall not apply to the following persons:
(a) Officials of a county, city, state of Idaho, the United States, peace officers, guards of any jail, court appointed attendants or any officer of any express company on duty;
(b) Employees of the adjutant general and military division of the state where military membership is a condition of employment when on duty;
(c) Criminal investigators of the attorney general’s office, criminal investigators of a prosecuting attorney’s office, prosecutors and their deputies;
(d) Any person outside the limits of or confines of any city, or outside any mining, lumbering, logging or railroad camp, located outside any city, while engaged in lawful hunting, fishing, trapping or other lawful outdoor
activity;
(e) Any publicly elected Idaho official;
(f) Retired peace officers with at least ten (10) years of service with the state or a political subdivision as a peace officer and who have been certified by the peace officer standards and training council;
Next time you see a school board member or city councilor with lumpy clothes you may want to ask, “Is that a gun in your pocket or you just glad to see me?”
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Comments & Discussion
Comments are closed for this post.
Feb 26, 2006, 1:57 am
The police are opposing this change, cuz they think it might get them shot?
Do they really think the type of person who would shoot a police officer really would obey the law against carrying a concealed weapons without a license?
(Shhh! Don’t tell those worried officers, but: It’s already against the law to shoot a cop!)
Yeah, I guess they figure the bad guys wouldn’t mind facing a barrage of bullets from the surving lawmen, or a possible death sentence or life in the slammer for shooting a cop, but they sure wouldn’t want to take a chance on being busted for the relatively minor offence of packing heat illicitly.
Amazing.
Feb 26, 2006, 9:05 am
I have held a concealed weapons permit in Ada county since Chuck Palmer was the sheriff and I believe I was one of 4 non-law enforcement permits. I firmly believe in the right to carry.Having said that, I must say this proposed legislation is down-right stupid!
We must have an avenue for law enforcement to know when someone stopped is potentially armed.
If it is absolutely necessary that a loaded firearm be carried in the vehicle, get a damned permit. If you have to carry a loaded firearm in your car and you are so irresponsible that you can’t, or won’t, get a permit, I want you in jail because you are too stupid to carry.
Feb 27, 2006, 12:40 am
Re Jim Monihan’s comment:
I don’t think the concealed-carry law clearly specifies that it applies only to a *loaded* weapon.
So, if you have a gun with you out in the hills or wherever and pull into town, then what? You’re not supposed to carry it into a bar, apparently, and you clearly can’t take it into a school, courthouse, jail, etc. So, if you can’t conceal it in you car, what do you do with it? Leave it lying on the seat — thus inviting the “bad guys” to break into you car and take it … and then maybe commit robbery or murder or whatever with it?
And the Idaho law doesn’t clearly specify that a concealed weapon has to be within “grab reach” as the laws in some states do. I know of one guy who was busted for concealed weapon even though the gun was in the trunk of his car!
So, what’s the best thing to do (aside from having to get a concealed-weapons license)?
Maybe everyone should get one — but when I asked about applying for one in Boise, I was told I would have to take an all-day (8-hour I think) course in gun safety first. My work schedule etc. precluded that. (And I’m quite sure you didn’t have to take one when Chuck was sheriff. Under the law at that time, he could just say, OK, here it is.)
I agree with you that it would be nice if the police knew who was armed, but when they stop a car they don’t know whether you’re licensed until you tell them you’re carrying and that you have a license. So I don’t see how the proposed law would make the least bit of difference to their safety.
— gp
Feb 27, 2006, 10:41 am
My mantra is “An armed society is a polite society”. I think any law-abiding citizen should be allowed to carry a concealed weapon. That being said, I also believe “An educated society is a polite society”. I agree with mandating firearms safety & LEGAL training. It makes good sense to advise those who carry of their rights and responsibilities. (For example, you exit the grocery store just in time to see someone driving away in your car. You’re in no danger. Do you get to shoot the fleeing felon? The answer, NO, seems obvious, but doesn’t it make sense to teach people that deadly force is not an option to solely protect property?)
The only need I see for requiring CW Permits is 1. It ensures that the educational component is met. 2. It’s an opportunity to alert law enforcement that someone in a prohibited class (ie a felon or a spouse beater etc) is attempting to carry (which may just raise red flags). As far as Police Officer safety… hogwash! Officers are already trained to treat everyone as if they’re armed. (If you don’t believe me, see how long you can keep your hands in your pockets the next time an Officer contacts you in reference to a criminal violation.) Officers are keenly aware that criminals don’t obey the law – which is why they’re called criminals! No words written in a law book have ever made a Police Officer safer against someone determined to break the law. Concealed weapons laws are just tools that Officers can use… the safety argument is just smoke & mirrors.
Feb 27, 2006, 1:41 pm
I like my guns. I don’t have a carry permit and see little need to carry in or around town. When I am out in the woods, fishing or on a long drive, then we usually have somthing along.
I hear all these folks saying they need to carry to keep themselves and family protected and ask myself; from what?
I also hear from folks saying they are going to help protect me. Well, that is a bunch of crap! Of all the folks I have ever met who purport to be packin’, not a single one has the intestinal fortitude to actully shoot another human being. They talk big. They act tough. Deep down, they could no more throw down on someone as they could tell their boss what they really think.
Let local law enforcement, warts and all, do the job of carrying the heat-leave it to well trained men and women, rather than Charles Bronson wannabes.
Aug 29, 2007, 1:58 pm
In response to Gordon’s comment to Jim Monihan, Idaho Law does make a distinction between loaded and unloaded weapons. Given the date of his post, and the fact that the Idaho legislature is only making laws for about 3 months out of the year, it is possible that what I am about to quote is different from the law then.
Idaho Statute Title 18, Chapter 33, specifically 18-3302 paragraph 9 states:
“While in any motor vehicle, inside the limits or confines of any city, a person shall not carry a concealed weapon on or about his person without a license to carry a concealed weapon. This shall not apply to any firearm located in plain view whether it is loaded or unloaded. A firearm may be concealed legally in a motor vehicle so long as the weapon is disassembled or unloaded.”
The last sentence here is the important one. If the firearm is dissassembled OR unloaded it may be concealed legally in a motor vehicle.
I know from reading another later article in the GUARDIAN that the bill was removed but I think the major concern the police have with such a law is not that they might get shot, but that if they find someone with a loaded, concealed firearm, in a vehicle, they can arrest them, thereby removing their ability to commit a crime that they may have been headed to.
I realize it seems like a stretch of probability but the point is, armed criminals are highly unlikely to ever have an unloaded firearm, unless they just got finished with a shootout.
Law abiding citizens, excersizing their 2nd Amendment rights, are either going to have a permit, which is really easy to get, or they aren’t going to conceal the weapon in the first place unless they’re on their way to the range, or out of town or whatever, and then their is really no need for it to be loaded. Drop the clip, clear the chamber and you’re legal. That’s basic hunter safety and shouldn’t rile anybody’s dander.