By Cameron Rasmusson
Reader staff
District 1 Rep. Heather Scott has concealed carry weapon permits on her mind.
The first-year legislator for the North Idaho district contacted Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden’s office this week to investigate discrepancies across counties in concealed carry permit fees. IdahoReporter.com reports that the inquiries are another step in her goal to remove the permitting process altogether, allowing residents to carry concealed residents unencumbered by government regulation.
The inquiry was prompted by a report from Idaho Freedom Foundation and Idaho Second Amendment Alliance, which detailed the extreme variance between permitting fees across the state. For instance, residents of Teton County acquired permits for $115, while new permits run $62 in Bingham County.
Scott’s inquiry follows her and other lawmakers’ effort to ease the process of obtaining permits earlier this year. Their work produced legislation setting a $20 fee for new permits and $15 for renewals. Counties can level additional charges for administrative costs like fingerprinting and paperwork.
Scott is concerned some county sheriffs aren’t adhering to the standards set by the new law, leading to higher prices in some counties. Either way, she sees the new regulations as a simple first step toward her ultimate goal: the concealed carrying of firearms without a permit in Idaho.
“Do I want to fix the fees?” she told IdahoReporter.com. “No. I want to get rid of the permit.”
Read the full IdahoReporter.com story, plus the Idaho Attorney General’s Office’s response to Scott’s inquiries, here: https://idahoreporter.com/37850/scott-examining-state-law-governing-concealed-weapons-permits/
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