March 19, 2014—Idaho governor Butch Otter has signed into law Senate Bill 1254, a controversial bill that is intended to improve safety on Idaho state college and university campuses by permitting qualified retired law enforcement officers and “law-abiding” adult students, staff and visitors who have obtained an Idaho “enhanced” concealed carry license to possess a firearm on public college and university campuses. Firearms will reportedly not be allowed in student dormitories and public entertainment and sporting facilities. Idaho is the seventh state to allow guns on college campuses, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Among the law’s supporters, the National Rifle Association (NRA) supported the legislation and led a strong grassroots campaign to pass it. According to a press release from the NRA, the law is “a vital step toward protecting students and faculty on campus” and an important extension of self-defense laws. The NRA says that when college campuses are targeted by “soulless and deranged criminals seeking to inflict carnage on as many innocent victims as they can…it is vital that our campuses have instant responders.”
The law’s detractors include the Idaho State Board of Education, which announced at a press conference that it had unanimously passed a motion to oppose the law, in line with previous actions of the Board with respect to regulation of firearms on public higher education campuses. The Board believes that campuses are currently “among the safest places in our society,” and is concerned about “losing the ability to effectively govern campuses, including listening to our law enforcement professionals about the best strategies to protect students.”
In addition, as published in a press release from the City of Boise Police Department, police chief Michael Masterson spoke out against the bill on behalf of the Idaho Chiefs of Police Association at a public forum. Opening a conversation about the “complex issue,” Chief Masterson said he and his colleagues “respect the right for people to possess guns,” but they say that statistics show that U.S. colleges and universities are safe environments for students, and believe that “this is due in no small part to the prohibition of firearms on campus.” Masterson citied such issues as the impulsiveness of college-age students, particularly when alcohol is involved, the emergence of mental health problems at that age, ambiguous wording in the law, and the difficulty that retired or off-duty police officers will have in identifying a “good gun” and “bad gun” in a crisis situation that involves split-second decisions in a large classroom or meeting area.
