Idaho Bills

Amends existing law to authorize a school employee who possesses an enhanced license to carry concealed weapons to carry on school property in certain instances.

There is a desperate need to make our schools secure from individuals that desire to inflict harm on students. The best solution to defend schools is an effective physical security posture and to hire full-time armed guards. The armed guard option is cost prohibitive and not sustainable. This legislation provides an alternative to the hired armed guards by giving the opportunity for Public K-12 school employees to carry concealed weapons and can act as an armed protection force within the confines of school property. Individuals that are willing to participate in this program will need to have completed, at the minimum, the enhanced concealed weapon training course or completed a POST (Police Officer Standards Training) training course, not to exceed six (6) days of training. It is the discretion for the local school boards to define their desired training level standards. School boards cannot deny individual’s right to conceal carry within school boundaries if they have properly completed the school board required training standards. Once individuals are qualified for concealed carry at their school, they will be required to do refresher training with local law enforcement on a yearly basis. Additionally, this legislation requires all schools to remove “Gun Free Zone” signs from all public K-12 schools.