(image from stateimpactnpr.org)
The state legislature in Boise, the capital city of The Gem State of Idaho, is currently in a two-week hiatus due to an outbreak of Covid-19 among a handful of its legislators. That is somewhat ironic because the majority of the legislators have refused to wear masks or support other science-back actions to help prevent the spread of the virus. There was also a recent mask burning activity outside the statehouse.
But What About Gun Laws?
Last week’s shootings in Atlanta, Georgia, that claimed the lives of eight people, including six women of Asian descent, were horrific. One of the local sheriffs claimed that the 21-year old suspect was “having a bad day” and the shootings were the result of it. So you have a bad day, and you go out and kill eight people? How many more would he have killed had he not been stopped?
And then today, Monday March 22, in beautiful Boulder, Colorado, a man killed ten people, including the first responding policer officer. The officials in Boulder are releasing very little information about the detained suspect and the other nine victims. What was the basis for this killing spree? Were the victims of any particular ethnicity/ Or race? Or gender? Or did the killer just feel like killing people? It is very doubtful we will ever know the answers to any of the questions.
But What About Idaho?
(photo from Amir Hosseini on unsplash.com)
Idaho is a rather conservative state. People love the outdoors, the fresh air, the ability to go to so many places where you’re the only person or persons there. While the city of Boise has a population of about 240,000, the metro area is almost 750,000 people. That is over 40% of the state’s entire population of about 1.8 million people. The area of Idaho is about one-half the area of the state of California with its population of about 40 million. So you can see that open space is significant in Idaho.
With that open space comes hunting, and there is a lot of it in Idaho. There are controlled hunts of Deer, Elk, Black Bear, Moose, Bighorn Sheep, Mountain Goats, and those are just the bigger animals. So with a lot of hunting comes a need for a lot of guns.
I've lived in Boise for 27 years, and I've never felt the need to have a gun to protect myself. I understand why some people do, and I hope they are safe.
The Discussion
The discussion of gun laws or “gun control” is typically argued on one side by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which says in part: “A well regulated [sic.] Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” Various states have ratified that amendment with different placements, or outright omissions, of some/all of the commas.
The argument generally goes something like this: “The Constitution says you cannot infringe upon my right to bear arms, which means to own guns.” That is an interpretation of what is said.
What most people don’t realize, or just don’t care to consider, is that the amendment was written at the time when the United States did not have a standing army to protect itself and its citizens. Thus it was necessary to be able to have people to call up as a militia for that protection. But since the government didn’t have any weapons to provide to these members of the militia, it was important to give them the ability to have their own weapons. Thus the ability “to keep and bear arms.”
Also, the weapons at that time were single-load muskets, not automatic rifles designed to kill many people in a short period of time. But then, how could the writers of the Constitution envisioned that? And Boise was not the capital of the state of Idao that did not exist at the time.
But even though the U.S. does have standing armies (the Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, National Guard, etc.) now, that “militia” technicality is not one that sways many people. And given how conservative the people in Boise and all of Idaho are, that would never matter.
Hunting for Food?
I don’t have an issue with people owning weapons for personal protection or for hunting animals for food.
Even if it would move the legislators of Idaho to vote for gun restrictions, I hope that Boise does not ever experience the tragedy and selflessness of a mass shooting.