Posted on 01/07/2016 4:50:37 PM PST by Domandred
Speaker of the House Scott Bedke, R-Oakley, said Thursday he will deploy a secret gun committee to vet a bill that would allow Idahoans to conceal firearms without a permit.
Bedke, speaking to reporters at a briefing ahead of next weekâs legislative session kick-off, offered tepid support for permitless concealed carry.
âI would be supportive [of permitless carry] in concept,â Bedke told reporters.
Two House Republican caucus members, freshman Reps. Ron Nate of Rexburg and Heather Scott of Blanchard, announced this week they will introduce a permitless carry bill in the upcoming sessionâs first two weeks.
That announcement included quotes from Bedke borrowed from a Post Register article. In the piece, Bedke signaled permitless carry could pass in 2016 after it failed last year.
Though heâs conceptually supportive, Bedke will ask an off-the-books gun committee to vet the bill before it moves forward.
âItâs a time-honored practice,â Bedke said of the special committee, âand itâs worked.â
Gun rights activists introduced the 2015 version in the State House Affairs Committee, but didnât submit the proposal to Bedkeâs secret gun panel.
House State Affairs Committee Chairman Tom Loertscher, R-Iona, refused to give the bill a hearing, in part because the plan wasnât vetted by the secret gun panel.
Bedke hinted at how Nate and Scott should proceed. âIâm not going to require [vetting by the ad hoc gun committee], but Iâm going to urge,â the speaker said.
The Oakley Republican wasnât the only Republican unwilling to take a strong stand for permitless carry. Gov. Butch Otter declined to say if heâd sign a permitless carry bill if one lands on his desk this year.
âI have no idea what this bill is going to look like,â Otter explained.
Even then, the governor said, legislators will disagree whether the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights guarantee the right to carry concealed weapons without a permit.
âYouâre going to have to define constitutional carry,â the governor said, using the proposalâs other common moniker.
If lawmakers consider the bill, Bedke pledged to prevent felons or the mentally ill from concealing weapons without permits. âThere are certain members of society who should not be entitled to [carry without a permit],â Bedke said.
The House speaker took a subtle swipe at the two freshman lawmakers, suggesting the issue might prove more complex than Nate and Scott believe.
âItâs not as simple as I used to think it was,â Bedke said.
If Idaho adopts the plan, it would become the ninth state to allow permitless carry.
So this means felons and the mentally ill can conceal carry with a permit?
Geez, where do they find these geniuses?
and "Nobody will expect The Spanish Inquisition".
Vet? Vett? Vette?
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