House Bill 621 aims to grant gun owners the ability to bring their concealed weapon with them into county offices located in combined courthouses, steps or floors away from civil and criminal courtrooms. Through judicial orders and county ordinances, citizens are not permitted to bring guns into Idaho courthouses, which the bill sponsors argue violates state law and the U.S. Constitution’s Second Amendment.

State Reps. Brandon Mitchell, R-Moscow, and Kyle Harris, R-Lewiston, brought the bill and each called it “commonsense” legislation as it relates to the constitutionally protected right to bear arms.

“The Second Amendment is set in stone with our state Constitution and with our federal Constitution,” Mitchell told the House State Affairs Committee on Tuesday. “This bill is simply saying: You’re going to protect the courtrooms and not the rest of the county building.”

The two North Idaho lawmakers highlighted a specific issue they are trying to solve at a newer governmental building in Nez Perce County where courtrooms are commingled with other county offices. When the county commissioners declined to address the concerns from some local residents and the two lawmakers, they sought the change to state law to force them to find a way to allow guns in, including possibly relocating metal detectors and other security screening for courtrooms.

“I should not have to disarm myself to walk in to pay my taxes, to register to vote, to talk to my county commissioners,” Harris said, likening entering a courthouse today to going through airport security.

“You must have some tough county commissioners if you gotta take your gun in to talk to ‘em,” responded Rep. Brent Crane, R-Nampa, the committee chairman.

The bill ran into a wall of reluctance from fellow Republicans who questioned the impacts to public safety and county budgets if the proposed law took effect. Counties estimated expenses to remodel existing courthouses across the state in the tens of millions of dollars, while the bill’s sponsors projected no direct costs.

“I am all for people having the right to carry their guns, but the amount of violence and threats against our judiciary has tripled in the last five to 10 years,” said Rep. Stephanie Mickelson, R-Idaho Falls. “We have situations now where we have judges getting killed and court officers getting hurt … from violence.”

The National Rifle Association’s Northwest regional director spoke in support of the bill, while a representative for the Idaho Association of Counties opposed it. So did Ada County Clerk Trent Tripple, a Republican, who read prepared remarks to the committee in testimony against the gun bill.

“It is equivalent to allowing weapons in schools, but not in the classrooms,” Tripple said. “This bill would provide a small, minor convenience for a few folks while putting at risk thousands of people who are forced to be in the courthouse on their worst days.

“It is a constant powder keg awaiting a stray match.”

The concealed carry in courthouses bill came on the immediate heels of another piece of legislation, Senate Bill 1430, that would add civil penalties of $10,000 if a city or county issued an ordinance to restrict gun access that conflicts with state laws. That bill already passed the Senate and the committee passed it for a future vote on the House floor.

House Bill 621 failed to advance to the House floor for a vote, receiving just two favorable votes in the GOP-controlled committee. Instead, with unanimous support — and over protest from the sponsors — it was moved on by the committee in the House for possible amendment in the waning days of the legislative session.