Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Utah is now tracking those who traveling into the state. If you cross the stateline in a number of "geo-fenced" areas, the state will recognize your cell phone and send you a text message directing you to fill out a travel registration form at entry.utah.gov. The check points are:
This news story summarizes it pretty well. How this is legal or constitutional is beyond me. Once states start closing their borders to each other, the whole concept of the federal republic is done for. The amount of tracking that can be done via cellphone should already be disturbing to you, but this takes it to a whole new level. Of course, what if you just ignore the text message? What are they gonna do? COVID-19 has become a major excuse for the government to clamp down like totalitarians and shred the constitution. Idaho and Wyoming were the only states in the Intermountain West to totally ban carrying a firearm (at least in cities and towns). Wyoming repealed its law, applying the ban only to concealed carry, in 1899. In 1902, the Idaho Supreme Court found that the state could not ban both methods and open carry was then decriminalized. The infringement of 1888 ends July 1, 2020, when Idaho restores constitutional carry for all. In re Brickey, 8 Idaho 597, 70 P. 609, 101 Am. St. Rep. 215, 1 Ann. Cas. 55 (1902). Supreme Court of Idaho. Nov. 15, 1902 BEARING ARMS—CONSTITUTIONAL LAW--CARRYING CONCEALED WEAPONS. 1. The act of the territorial legislature approved February 4, 1889, which prohibits private persons from carrying deadly weapons within the limits or confines of any city, town, or village in Idaho, contravenes the provisions of the second amendment to the federal constitution and the provisions of section 11, art. 1, of the constitution of Idaho, and is void. 2. While it is undoubtedly within the power of the legislature to prohibit the carrying of concealed deadly weapons, and such regulation is a proper exercise of police power, yet the legislature does not possess the power to prohibit the carrying of firearms, as the right to do so is guarantied to the citizen both by our federal and state constitutions. (Syllabus by the Court.) Application of L. D. Brickey for a writ of habeas corpus. Writ granted, and petitioner discharged. S. S. Denning, for petitioner. Miles S. Johnson, Co. Atty., for the State. QUARLES, C. J. The petitioner applies to this court for a writ of habeas corpus, and in the petition sets forth and shows that he is unlawfully imprisoned, confined, and restrained of his liberty by A. W. Kroutinger, sheriff of Nez Perce county, at the county jail in the county of Nez Perce; in the state of Idaho; that he is so imprisoned under a commitment which issued out of the justice's court of West Lewiston precinct, in the county of Nez Perce, in a criminal action wherein petitioner was convicted upon the charge of carrying a deadly weapon, to wit, a loaded revolver, within the limits and confines of the city of Lewiston, contrary to the provisions of the act of the territory of Idaho approved February 4, 1889 (Sess. Laws 1889, p. 27); and, in accordance with the prayer of said petition, the writ was issued, and return thereto duly made by the said sheriff. From the petition and return it appears that the only offense charged against the petitioner, of which he has been convicted, and is now restrained of his liberty, is that he carried a deadly weapon within the limits of the city of Lewiston, in contravention of the said act of February 4, 1889. The second amendment to the federal constitution is in the following language: "A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed." The language of section 11, art. 1, Const. Idaho, is as follows: "The people have the right to bear arms for their security and defense, but the legislature shall regulate the exercise of this right by law." Under these constitutional provisions, the legislature has no power to prohibit a citizen from bearing arms in any portion of the state of Idaho, whether within or without the corporate limits of cities, towns, and villages. The legislature may, as expressly provided in our state constitution, regulate the exercise of this right, but may not prohibit it. A statute prohibiting the carrying of concealed deadly weapons would be a proper exercise of the police power of the state. But the statute in question does not prohibit the carrying of weapons concealed, which is of itself a pernicious practice, but prohibits the carrying of them in any manner in cities, towns, and villages. We are compelled to hold this statute void. The statute being void, the said justice's court had no jurisdiction of the subject-matter of the action, and the said judgment of conviction, and the commitment which issued thereon, and the detention of the petitioner under said commitment and judgment of conviction, are illegal and void.(p.610) The said judgment being void, habeas corpus will lie, and the prisoner should be discharged from custody, and it is so ordered. SULLIVAN and STOCKS LAGER, JJ., concur. Special thanks to Guncite.com for hosting a transcript of the original source. Dean Weingarten, veteran gun writer and Arizonan, has been studying bear attacks for years and has compiled a fairly comprehensive list of incidents. He found that handguns are 97% in defending against bear attacks. He primarily uses this information to argue (correctly, less anyone get confused) that bear spray alone is not an effective way to stop bear attacks. Some people seem to think bear spray is more effective than a gun. His data is worth a read. No, we're not talking about California's rural open carry exemption. Did you know that there is a way to carry openly in urban California that anyone can use? Let's look at the Penal Code section: 26045. (a) Nothing in Section 25850 is intended to preclude the carrying of any loaded firearm, under circumstances where it would otherwise be lawful, by a person who reasonably believes that any person or the property of any person is in immediate, grave danger and that the carrying of the weapon is necessary for the preservation of that person or property. That's right, it's just that easy to openly carry in California! To recap on how you can do it:
Isn't California great? Once you or someone else is already in danger, you can get your gun out of your house and your business and run out to protect others! They were so thoughtful towards the life of criminals that they only want you carrying a gun when it's too late to deter the crime. Plus people in public are safe because your gun has to be in your businesses or home where it can't hurt anybody! And don't forget, put the gun away before the police get there, or they'll shoot your ass dead, you gun toting monster. From the NRA-ILA: In response to the Covid 19 outbreak, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham ordered the closure of all businesses she doesn’t consider “Essential.” The Governor did not designate firearm stores as “essential,” but many remained open because the Governor’s order did not explicitly order them closed. Your NRA-ILA has now learned that Governor Grisham is making her anti-gun proclivities clear by tasking the State Patrol with driving by gun stores and telling dealers that they are, and will remain, closed to the public. New Mexico residents are encouraged to contact their local firearms dealers to inquire about the potential to make online purchases while the Governor’s order remains in effect. Across the Intermountain West, only in Washington were gun stores also classified as "non-essential." Headlines are starting to splash around the gun world that Idaho “passes constitutional carry for all.” Here’s a sample of headlines.
While technically correct, all of these headlines and practically everyone out there misses the point. Idaho didn’t “extend,” “expand,” or “approve” constitutional carry. Idaho will end its 132 years of unconstitutional infringement on the right to bear arms on July 1. You can’t “extend,” “expand,” “grant,” or “allow” something you banned in the first place. What Idaho (and other states in the past) did was repeal their bans on concealed carry. Technically speaking, they still haven’t repealed the ban, just added a host of exceptions to provide the same effect as no ban. Idaho is going back to the way it should be; no prior government permission to carry a weapon for self-defense in the manner that best suits you. In 1888, Idaho Territory made it illegal to carry a gun in cities, towns, and camps. Rural areas outside of that, it was okay to carry concealed. In 1902, that law was rolled back when the state supreme court found in In Re Brickey that it was unconstitutional to totally ban all carry. The state had to allow some form of carry, and since concealed carry had been so thoroughly demonized, open carry had to be permitted. I haven’t found out when exactly yet, but in the next seven years, the legislature re-wrote the law accordingly. In 2016, Idaho began a three-session process culminating in Wednesday’s signing of HB 516 that stopped the discrimination against non-Idahoans. In 2016, Idaho stopped requiring permits for state residents. In 2018, the prohibition for 18-20 year-olds carrying concealed was removed. And now, there is no restriction on who can carry concealed (unless you’re a felon or something, but let’s not be pedantic). Idaho has some of the fewest restrictions on carry a firearm in the country. America’s expansion of gun control was a gradual evolution. The carry restrictions exploded from 1860 to 1890. Concealed carry was called a “pernicious practice” and anyone who carried a gun was maligned as a potential murderer. Even in communities that did not have the problems of Southern Honor violence or were far removed from the “wild west” prohibitions crept into law. These laws were a failed experiment in crime control through gun control. People still carried, paid fines, and went on their way. Fines were increased. When this didn’t seem to deter the practice, many voices, including hysterical newspaper editorials you can find, called for the penalty to be raised to a felony. Of course open carry was an alternative, but seems to have been practiced even less than today. Oddly enough, when the process of banning concealed carry was largely complete across the country, America moved to try and ban pistols in the 1920s. The homicide rate had jumped from about 1 per 100,000 before 1900 to 8-to-10 per 100,000 in 1920-1932. Perhaps something else was at work? My personal theory was that the decline in homicides after the Civil War to the rise prior to the First World War was related to social changes. Society became less tolerant of death. A maturing population removed from war and frontier savagery didn’t approve of killing except in the most extreme of circumstances. At the same time, we start seeing an increase in court cases outlining justifiable homicide and laws narrowly defining self-defense. Juries stopped finding shooters not guilty of murder because the other guy had it coming. Weapon carrying bans have always been unconstitutional and society has tolerated these dumb restrictions for too long. In the past, it was not a big deal to carry anyway and never get caught or punished. If one did get caught or punished, the penalty was not a big deal for most people. Now, a concealed weapon charge can be a life-altering felony. All because society has been breathing life into a failed crime-control experiment for two centuries. ARS 26-303 Emergency powers of governor; termination; authorization for adjutant general; limitation J. Pursuant to the second amendment of the United States Constitution and article II, section 26, Constitution of Arizona, and notwithstanding any other law, the emergency powers of the governor, the adjutant general or any other official or person shall not be construed to allow the imposition of additional restrictions on the lawful possession, transfer, sale, transportation, carrying, storage, display or use of firearms or ammunition or firearms or ammunition components. xv.) Supplies for Essential Businesses and Operations: Businesses that sell, manufacture, or supply other Essential Businesses and Operations with the support or materials necessary to operate, including computers, audio and video electronics, household appliances; 11' and telecommunication equipment; hardware, paint, flat glass; electrical, plumbing and heating material; sanitary equipment; personal hygiene and products; food, food additives, ingredients and components; medical and orthopedic equipment; optics and photography equipment; diagnostics, food and beverages, chemicals, soaps and detergent; firearm and ammunition suppliers and retailers for purposes of safety and security. Idaho Governor Brad Little signed HB 516 into effect on March 26, 2020, decriminalizing concealed carry for the first time in 132 years for everyone across Idaho. Previously, permitless concealed carry (constitutional carry) was limited to only to Idaho residents. Effective July 1, 2020, non-Idaho residents may carry concealed in the gem state without a permit. Idaho only required a permit in cities and towns. This applies to anyone 18 and older. Idaho joins 13 states that do not restrict constitutional carry to state residents only. There are 18 states that allow permitless concealed carry across most of the state. In 1888, Idaho first banned carrying a firearm, openly or concealed, in any city, town or village or in any public assembly of Idaho Territory. In 1902, the state supreme court case In Re Brickey found that the ban on an openly carried firearm was unconstitutional. The statues were then re-written to ban only concealed carry. In 1990, Idaho passed a "shall-issue" concealed firearm permit law. In 2016, Idaho enacted its first constitutional carry law, allowing state residents 21 and older. Now Idaho has come full circle and ended over a century of infringing on the right to bear arms. Permits are still available to be applied for in the current manner for those who are interested for reciprocity purposes. Gray indicates no closures/no data. Green indicates gun stores okay to remain open. LA and San Diego in California are not closing gun stores. TX and CA have differing local policies. TX is seeking official guidance from their attorney general. NJ has closed all gun stores and closed the background check system. NM said that gun stores are "non-essential businesses" and we are unaware of any actual mandatory shut downs. Washington DC's only FFL voluntarily closed his business for an unstated reason. Interesting quotes: "Currently, the COVID-19 pandemic is revealing and exacerbating the underlying constitutional infringements with the NICS system. If state or federal governments do not remain open, then Americans will be denied their Second Amendment-protected right to purchase firearms. The long-term solution is for Congress to repeal this law. But in the short-term, the federal government is faced with a choice: ignore the Brady Transfer Date, thus intimidating gun stores into denying Americans their rights, or reallocate resources so that Americans will not be denied their rightfully purchased firearms." "Accordingly, GOA is concerned that Americans do not have “instant” access to firearms, in most cases, during this time in which Americans are demonstrating that they highly value their Second Amendment-protected rights." "Accordingly, Gun Owners of America asks your office to rescind the posting on the NICS website, and to adopt the interpretation that, with respect to federal law,5 the three business day period begins to run when an FFL attempts to contact a POC state for a NICS check, and can be extended only by ordinary weekends and holidays, and not by a state decision to temporarily shutter its POC offices for some indeterminate period of time." [emphasis added] "Third, exacerbating this situation, ATF has recently begun a campaign to use letters to eliminate the 18 U.S.C. § 922(t)(3) exemption for holders of concealed carry permits. ATF appears to be making a concerted effort to target all currently exempted states for unlawful elimination from the § 922(t)(3) exception. Gun Owners of America recently filed suit against ATF to stop this unlawful practice." |
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