House rejects bill to forbid those convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence from having guns for 2 years
After an emotional debate, the House, on a 31-39 vote, has rejected legislation to mirror federal law by barring those convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence against an intimate partner from possessing guns for two years. You can read my full story here at spokesman.com. Rep. Melissa Wintrow, D-Boise, the sponsor of HB 585, noted that Utah passed similar legislation last year with a Republican senator sponsoring it; 28 states have done the same. “This is one of the most dangerous situations you can find … and then you throw a gun in the mix,” Wintrow told the House. She also provided an Idaho Attorney General’s opinion assuring lawmakers that the bill was constitutional. “We are saying if you’ve been convicted as a criminal, then you should not have a deadly weapon – that’s it,” she said. “We could save lives.”
Wintrow said enacting a state law would allow local law enforcement to enforce it; with only the federal law on the books, she said, they can’t do that.
Rep. Bryan Zollinger, R-Idaho Falls, said he thought the Attorney General was “flat-out wrong on his analysis,” and said, “Statistics show if people want to have access to a gun, they will. … There’s no way for us to enforce this.”
Rep. Fred Wood, R-Burley, a retired physician, said, he spent 40 years in and around emergency rooms, treating women and children who were victims of domestic violence. “After 40 years of taking care of battered women and children you tend to get a little emotional,” he said. “I’m going to be voting for this. I don’t think it has anything to do with gun control or anything else. I’m going to stand with battered women and children today, and I’d ask you to do the same thing.”
Rep. Karey Hanks, R-St. Anthony, said, “This is a very delicate issue. … The people have the right to keep and bear arms.”
Wintrow proposed the bill after two young Idaho women told her the story of how their father murdered their mother – shot her to death, in front of one of her children, after he’d been charged with felony domestic violence but pleaded it down to a misdemeanor. Canyon County Sheriff Kieran Donahue, who handled the case, joined Wintrow in pressing for the bill.
“People who beat their wives and girlfriends and threaten them with dangerous weapons shouldn’t have them,” Wintrow told the House. “This is a helpful tool for law enforcement to keep them safe.”
The Idaho Freedom Foundation had pushed hard against the bill, with President Wayne Hoffman warning in a column earlier this week, “The gun grabbers are coming!”
Here’s how the vote broke down:
Voting in favor: Reps. Anderson, Bedke, Bell, Burtenshaw, Chaney, Chew, Clow, ,Erpelding, Gannon(17), Gannon(5), Gibbs, Hartgen, Kauffman, Kerby, King, Kloc(Tway), Luker, Malek, Manwaring, McCrostie, McDonald, Packer, Perry, Raybould, Redman, Rubel, Smith, Toone, Wagoner, Wintrow and Wood.
Voting against: Reps. Amador, Anderst, Armstrong, Barbieri, Blanksma, Boyle, Cheatham, Collins, Crane, Dayley, DeMordaunt, Dixon, Ehardt, Gestrin, Giddings, Hanks, Harris, Holtzclaw, Horman, Kingsley, Loertscher, Mendive, Miller, Monks, Moon, Moyle, Nate, Palmer, Scott, Shepherd, Stevenson, Syme, Thompson, Troy, VanOrden, VanderWoude, Youngblood, Zito and Zollinger.
