BOISE, Idaho — This article originally appeared in the Idaho Press.
Congress last month passed its first major gun legislation in nearly 30 years — over the objections of every member of Idaho’s congressional delegation — and it will bring some changes in Idaho gun purchases and federal prosecutions, along with new funding for mental health and school safety programs.
However, Idaho remains one of the most gun-friendly states in its state laws, and none of those will change.
“It’s not going to infringe on gun rights and gun ownership,” said Boise State University criminal justice professor Cody Jorgensen, who studies gun violence. “The gun enthusiasts have nothing to worry about with this legislation.”
Even so, it seems that Idahoans are wary about the future of their gun access. Nathan Guy, owner of Faith Outdoors in Nampa, said he's seen an increase in sales since the legislation passed.
“The last two years, we've had an uptick and then we were in a slight decline in 2022. And I'd say the last three to four weeks has been probably a 21% increase on sales,” Guy said.
The new federal law, dubbed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, includes four main changes to gun laws: Closing the so-called “boyfriend loophole” in the existing federal law that can restrict gun rights of convicted domestic abusers, by adding dating relationships to those covered; a new enhanced review process for gun purchasers under age 21, to include checking juvenile and mental health records; new federal felony penalties for “straw purchases” of guns and gun trafficking; and requiring more gun dealers who sell firearms as a business to be federally licensed.
“These provisions, and our enforcement of them, has nothing to do with law-abiding citizens,” said Josh Hurwit, U.S. Attorney for Idaho. “It has to do with those who are prohibited from having firearms and those who are engaged in criminal conduct.”
Scott Graf, spokesman for the Idaho Attorney General’s office, said the office’s review of the new legislation found no conflicts with Idaho laws, which include a 2021 law forbidding the state from enforcing federal laws or orders regarding guns, gun parts or ammunition that conflict with the Idaho Constitution. A 2014 Idaho law forbids the state from enforcing federal actions that infringe on Second Amendment rights.
“Our preliminary review of the federal changes suggest there is likely to be no effect on Idaho law,” Graf said in an emailed statement.
LAW CLOSES 'BOYFRIEND LOOPHOLE'
The closing of the "boyfriend loophole" may have limited effect in Idaho as far as removal of gun rights, but it will stop those convicted of domestic abuse in a dating relationship from buying firearms from a federally licensed gun dealer, just as it already restricted those sales to people convicted of abuse of spouses or specified intimate partners.
"It probably should have been there to begin with," Guy said about dating relationships being included in the domestic violence convictions that would bar someone from buying a gun.
Domestic violence convictions are the only misdemeanors that would bar someone from obtaining a gun because, according to Guy, they are classified as violent crimes.
In 2018, the Idaho House narrowly defeated a proposed bill to enact a matching law at the state level to prevent convicted domestic violence abusers from owning guns for two years; 28 states and the District of Columbia have similar laws. While the federal law applies to all 50 states, only a state law would authorize local officials and judges to enforce it.
“It’s frustrating for survivors” of domestic violence, said Lisa Bostaph, Boise State University professor of criminal justice and a former state parole commissioner. “When they leave, it’s one of the most dangerous times for them, in terms of potential for lethality.”
Domestic violence survivors, advocates and Idaho law enforcement officials all testified in favor of the 2018 bill during a committee hearing, and it cleared a House committee, but failed in a close vote on the floor. The Idaho Legislature is vigilant about protecting gun rights, and in recent years, has only expanded them, not restricted them.
Under current Idaho law, no state permit is required for the purchase or possession of any rifle, shotgun or handgun. Anyone age 18 or older, who is not disqualified from gun ownership via a felony conviction or related circumstances, is permitted to carry a concealed weapon anywhere except for certain designated places, including courthouses, jails, and public or private schools unless specifically authorized. Federal law forbids carrying weapons into federal courthouses or airports.
It's also legal in Idaho to openly carry a firearm; and to conceal a firearm in a vehicle. It is illegal, however, to carry a concealed weapon while intoxicated.
Sen. Melissa Wintrow, D-Boise, who sponsored the 2018 bill when she served in the Idaho House, said, “I couldn’t even get that bill heard today — I couldn’t get a hearing for that bill. So I’m not confident that the state Legislature would back up a pretty reasonable law like this because of the stance on firearms.”
Wintrow said, “It’s as if we can’t budge an inch at all, even for a reasonable public safety measure. It’s heartbreaking to me. I hope to be proven wrong.”
Closing the “boyfriend loophole,” she said, can “prevent harm and death” in domestic violence cases. “It doesn’t require a marriage, it doesn’t require living in the same household or a child in common,” she said. “We see pretty serious acts of violence against folks who are just dating. So I think this would be a very reasonable measure for public safety. But I thought that once before.”
“I think it would make a lot of sense for us to align state and federal law, so we could empower those law enforcement agencies,” she said, “but I just don’t see that happening, not in this political environment.”
Hurwit said his office does enforce the federal misdemeanor domestic violence provision. “We do charge it,” he said. He noted that the new law on the boyfriend loophole restricts gun rights for those convicted for five years, but not permanently.
ENHANCED REVIEW FOR PURCHASERS UNDER 21
Another change from the law that Idaho gun purchasers may notice is the enhanced review process for purchasers under age 21. “It sounds like this portion of the law was specifically tailored for those two recent mass shooters who on their 18th birthday went to buy AR’s,” Jorgensen said, “and they had a history of problems when they were younger.”
The mass shooter in the Uvalde, Texas, elementary school shooting purchased two guns on his 18th birthday. The mass shooter in the Buffalo, N.Y., grocery store shooting also was 18 and legally purchased some of the weapons used in that attack.
The review process is conducted by federally licensed firearms dealers when someone purchases a firearm. A background check is run through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, and if NICS doesn’t turn up anything, the gun purchase is approved.
“For someone who’s 18 years old, just barely turned 18, nothing on their juvenile record, nothing on their mental health record, it seems to me that they would not have their application delayed or denied,” Jorgensen said.
Those records already are electronically available to the NICS system, Idaho's courts and the state Bureau of Criminal Identification confirmed.
“I think this portion of the law will have at least some impact for the positive,” Jorgensen said. “A lot of development, personal, cognitive, emotional and behavior development happens between your 18th and 21st birthday. So people are much more impulsive as 18-year-olds than they are at 21 years old.”
He said prior to the new law, “It was almost like what happened in juvey, stayed in juvey. So this law will allow the NICS background more time and more resources to look into the juvenile backgrounds of gun applicants who are aged 18-20.”
Idaho doesn’t require universal background checks for gun purchases, so private parties can buy and sell used guns “without a background check and without any oversight from the ATF,” Jorgensen said. However, the background check system does apply to federally licensed firearms dealers, such as gun and sporting goods stores. Faith Outdoors is one of those federally licensed dealers.
And according to Guy, the process at his store hasn't changed much. They run the same background check, clients fill out the same forms and sign the same documents. These forms go through questions like criminal history, if the gun is for the purchaser and if the purchaser has ever been committed to a mental institution. The only difference in the process brought by the new laws is what documents the FBI has access to once the submit button is clicked for potential gun purchasers ages 18-20.
"If they need to be flagged, they need to be flagged. We're all for that," Guy said. "I don't think anybody's upset about opening it up to a kid that was in a mental institute in high school, but we couldn't see it before. I think everybody's for that."
If someone is caught lying on the federal firearms transaction form part of the background check, they face up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
"We already have a pretty extensive background check in place in Idaho and the country," Guy said. "And I would say that some of this stuff is just lip service from other government officials. We should probably be enforcing the current gun laws that we have on the books."
IDAHO HAS NO 'RED FLAG' LAWS
Perhaps the most controversial part of the new federal law is $750 million in new funding for states that can be used for the creation and administration of “red flag laws,” which restrict gun ownership among those a court has determined to be a danger to themselves or others. Idaho has no such laws, nor is its Legislature inclined to pass any. But the funding also could be used by states for other purposes, such as mental health courts, drug courts and veterans courts.
“We were an early adopter and a leader in specialty courts or problem-solving courts,” Bostaph said. The bill also includes additional funding for behavioral health initiatives, school-based mental health programs and more. She said Idaho likely will be in a good position to apply for some of those funds, given the ongoing efforts of the Idaho Behavioral Health Council to address mental and behavioral health needs on a statewide basis.
“They have something that I think a lot of states don’t, in terms of statewide impact: They have a plan,” Bostaph said. “They have goals and they have measures and objectives all ready to go. So that puts them a good leg or two ahead of likely other states who are applying for these funds.”
Also, though Idaho is a large state geographically, it’s a small state population-wise. “That facilitates us doing statewide changes,” she said. “I think that also makes us unique when agencies from Idaho apply and they have the ability to say, ‘We have a plan to make changes statewide, across our entire state,’ as opposed to this urban area or this regional area.”
The new federal law also includes funding for certified behavioral health clinics; better screening for children’s mental health conditions; tele-mental health services for children; training for pediatric mental health providers; community and first responder mental health training and more.
For schools, there’s $500 million in grants for school-based mental health services; another $500 million for training for school counselors, social workers and school psychologists; $1 billion for improving conditions for student learning; $50 million for after-school and summer programs; and $300 million for safety measures in and around schools.
'AN ADDITIONAL TOOL IN OUR ARSENAL'
The provisions in the new federal law regarding penalties for straw purchases and for unlicensed gun trafficking “gives us an additional tool to investigate and prosecute those matters,” Hurwit said. “It’s an additional tool we will have in our arsenal when we are dealing with violent offenders. … Where a situation arises where someone has violated this new statute, we will not hesitate to enforce it.”
Even under the previous federal laws, Idaho has seen prosecutions for both unlicensed gun dealing and straw purchases, Hurwit noted.
In a 2017 case, a Meridian man was sentenced to 27 months in federal prison for dealing firearms without a license and making false statements when purchasing firearms. According to court records, he purchased hundreds of guns from licensed dealers then resold them at increased prices at area gun shows between 2013 and 2015; federal agents found at least 10 of those guns at violent crime scenes or in drug trafficking cases in California, Arizona and Idaho.
A Caldwell man was sentenced to 40 months in federal prison in 2018 for selling multiple firearms in Treasure Valley parking lots, as part of a business he advertised online.
A California man was sentenced to three years probation plus fines in 2021 after he pled guilty to traveling to Idaho multiple times to pose as an Idaho resident and purchase guns he couldn’t legally purchase in California, then reselling them at a profit in California.
A “straw purchase” of a firearm is when someone claims to be the purchaser, but actually is buying the gun for someone else who isn’t legally allowed to have it, such as a convicted felon. “Straw purchasing is a significant problem across the country, not unique to Idaho,” Hurwit said. “And it’s a priority of our office.”
“Often we see, unfortunately, guns being exchanged for drugs, and straw purchasing happening in that context,” he said. “We enforce the law as Congress makes it, and we’re trying to address violent crime, we’re trying to address gun violence, and the more tools, the better. But again, it’s not going to have an impact on anyone who lawfully possesses firearms.”
Jorgensen said, “No one gun control law is the panacea to solve the gun violence problem.” But he said multiple well-thought-out measures, taken together, can have an impact. He said he was surprised to see Congress pass anything on guns.
“I certainly didn’t expect it, but it’s a long time coming,” he said. “Much more needs to be done, but this is a step in the right direction, I think. We might not see the direct positive effects of this gun law in Idaho because we are a low-crime state to begin with, but you might see a case or two here or there where it’s possible to link the two — that, yeah, this law did prevent this crime.”
In May, the New England Journal of Medicine published an article on updated mortality data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control that showed that firearm-related injuries have become the leading cause of death for U.S. residents ages 1-19, who are classified as children and adolescents. The previous data, through 2016, had firearm-related injuries second only to motor vehicle crashes.
“Since 2016, that gap has narrowed,” the journal reported, “and in 2020, firearm-related injuries became the leading cause of death in that age group.”
Betsy Z. Russell is the Boise bureau chief and state capitol reporter for the Idaho Press and Adams Publishing Group. Follow her on Twitter at @BetsyZRussell.
This article originally appeared in the Idaho Press, read more on IdahoPress.com.
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