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Ada County needs education

DCR

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I don't know if this has been addressed earlier, but it appears that Ada County Commissioners need some education on pre-emption. Oddly, note the date of its revision - Jan. 30, 2006 - well after the pre-emption statute was passed.


5-4-2: POSSESSION OF FIREARMS:
A. Short Title: This section shall be known and cited as the ADA COUNTY FIREARMS ORDINANCE.


B. Purpose: The purpose of this section is to prohibit the possession of a firearm in any public building, owned or operated by Ada County, and making such possession a misdemeanor violation, except in those circumstances where the individual carrying or possessing the firearm is a law enforcement official of the state of Idaho or a political subdivision thereof, a district court marshal, or an individual possessing a valid permit to carry a concealed weapon.


C. Definitions: All words and phrases used in this sectionshall be given their ordinary, commonly understood and accepted meanings.


D. Applicability Of Prohibition: This section does not apply to law enforcement officials of the state of Idaho, or a political subdivision thereof, to marshals of the fourth judicial district, or to an individual who possesses a valid permit to carry a concealed weapon, issued by the Ada County sheriff. In addition, the prohibition set forth in this section shall not apply to individuals in attendance at any organized firearm trading or sale exhibition conducted at the Expo Idaho facilities.


E. Firearm Possession Prohibited, Penalty: It shall be unlawful for any person to have in his possession a firearm, whether loaded or unloaded, while said person is within any public building, owned or operated by Ada County. Any person convicted of a violation of this prohibition shall be punished as provided by Idaho Code, section 18-113 as it may from time to time be amended and/or retitled. (Ord. 96, 9-17-1980; amd. Ord. 603, 1-30-2006)

Since this is a hot election year with two of the seats being contested, I think it would be appropriate to ask the candidates what their understanding of the law is, and whether they would support amending or repealing this section to comply with state law. What say you?

Here's the link; hope it works, since I don't know how to insert html:

http://sterling.webiness.com/codebook/index.php?book_id=447
 

ecocks

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Definitely not enforced. I have open carried multiple times in both the DMV and Voter's Registration offices on Benjamin as well as the lobby of the Sheriff's Office on Barrister within the last year. Think those are the only two county buildings I have entered.
 

aadvark

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Even if theOrdinance were to beenforced, it would be Illegal.

Idaho State Law 18-3302J Preempts any such regulation by Ada County, and holds the same null and void.

The only Law in Idaho that governs Firearm Carry, by Adult Lawabiding Citizens, in Idaho is 18-3302C. this Law holds it as Unlawful, and punishable as a Misdemeanor to a Carry a Concealed Firearm into any:

1. Courthouse,

2. Jail or Juvenile Detention Facility, or

3. Public or Private School, School meaning K-12.

Apparently, Open Carry by a License-holder is not Illegal, and therefore Legal in places 1 and 2 of the above, except that:

4. Open Carry is Prohibited on School Property, School being K-12, per Idaho Code 18-3302D, except that it is not Prohibited under 18-3302D(4)(c) if thePerson, an Adult Lawabiding Citizen, is acting under Self-defense under Idaho Code 19-202A.

Therefore, the only place in Idaho where Carry, whether Openly or Concealed, is Prohibited is Schools K-12. Open Carry is Legal in every other place in Idaho. Concealed Carry is Legal in every place in Idaho, except 1-3, above.
 

IndianaBoy79

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Our current preemption law was passed as recently as 2008. I believe it was Senator Mckenzie who introduced the bill. However, the preemption bill did nothing to create a new law, it simply reinforced what has ALWAYS been the law here in Idaho; it simply wasn't recognized as such. Because of the problems we've had in past years, Senator Mckenzie felt it necessary to further protect our right to carry.

Idaho has had full preemption for open carry since 1902, as decided by our supreme court in re Brickey.
http://www.guncite.com/court/state/70p609.html

Interesting case to read. We've had previous discussion on it as well. http://opencarry.mywowbb.com/view_topic.php?id=17212&forum_id=20&highlight=idaho+supreme+court

Saint had a run in with this very city ordinance.
http://opencarry.mywowbb.com/view_topic.php?id=10401&forum_id=20&highlight=saint+library

As you can see, this situation turned out well with Boise city deciding to ignore its own ordinance. I agree that we need to do something about this though. As time goes on, city officials forget past events and might eventually try to enforce this invalid law again. Is someone here willing to research what is necessary to get this started through the proper channels? I've already started a county by county/city by city search for laws that violate state preemption. If we can tackle the Boise law, I'd like to see us systematically take on the others as well.
 
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