Bill targets shooting in state parks

Restrictive legislation that Idaho lawmakers passed last year is keeping the state Parks Board from banning campers from shooting at each other in state parks, so now legislation is moving through to give the board that authority.

The bill, H0137, passed the House Monday on a 66-1 vote, with just one representative, Rep. Dick Harwood, R-St. Maries, voting no.

“The parks, the way they do it now they call the sheriff – this don’t change that,” Harwood said after the vote. “This is just making a bill, as far as I’m concerned. They still have to call the sheriff.”

House Majority Leader Mike Moyle, R-Star, the bill’s sponsor, said the National Rifle Association approved of the bill, which allows regulation only of discharge of firearms, not possession. It includes exceptions for self-defense and “lawful hunting.”

“We don’t want people shooting when they’re camping next to each other and getting hurt,” Moyle told the House.

The measure now moves to the Senate.