Legislation to beef up Idaho’s laws on violent threats against schools and add possible felony charges has passed the House on a 54-12 vote after much debate; you can read my full story here at spokesman.com. Rep. Wendy Horman, R-Idaho Falls, said the bill originated with the state’s office of school safety and security and has been “thoroughly vetted.” She said, “This statute has not been updated since 2006.”

But several House members said they worried that the bill might make a kindergartner with a one-inch pocketknife or a youngster engaging in a playground dispute into a felon. Backers of the bill said it absolutely wouldn’t do that.

“Threats to children at schools are not protected speech,” said Rep. Patrick McDonald, R-Boise, a retired police officer and deputy U.S. marshal and the bill’s lead sponsor. “In my opinion, it’s an act of terrorism.”

McDonald said, "In Boise alone, there have been 14 threats in the last seven days. ... You need to address the threat, you need to do it fast, and that's what this statute does."

The bill, HB 665, would expand Idaho’s current law regarding school threats to include threats of violence made from off-site, including by phone or social media. Threats would be misdemeanors; showing up with a deadly weapon in furtherance of the threat would be a felony.

Rep. Heather Scott, R-Blanchard, asked McDonald, “If I read it correctly, if a 2nd-grader would threaten, maybe he brought a little pocketknife to school with him, threaten maybe, ‘I’m going to kill you with my little pocketknife,’ wouldn’t that be considered a felony?”

McDonald answered, “No.”

Rep. John Gannon, D-Boise, said, “Idaho, like it or not, is part of the 21st Century, and like it or not, mass shootings at schools are a very sad reality. Law enforcement needs the tools to intercept and intercede to prevent tragedy.”

Rep. Luke Malek, R-Coeur d'Alene, noted that children convicted of offenses that would be considered felonies for adults go into the juvenile system, not to adult prisons. "I believe it is a well-constructed piece of legislation - I believe it keeps us safer," he said.

Rep. Bryan Zollinger, R-Idaho Falls, made a motion to send the bill to the House’s amending order to make changes to emphasize that small knives aren’t considered deadly weapons, but that failed on a 22-41 vote; backers of the bill said the change wasn’t needed.

“We’re talking about somebody making a threat against a school, and then in furtherance of that threat, showing up with deadly weapons,” said Rep. Mat Erpelding, D-Boise.

The bill now moves to the Senate side.

In the final vote on the bill, the 12 “no” votes were from Reps. Barbieri, Dixon, Giddings, Hanks, Harris, Mendive, Nate, Perry, Scott, Shepherd, Stevenson and Zito.

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