Post by addisona on Feb 17, 2022 14:43:04 GMT
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A panel of Idaho lawmakers has advanced a bill that would repeal the state's primary law banning private militias.
The move from the House Transportation and Defense Committee came Wednesday afternoon after the lawmakers heard from several residents who said the legislation could dangerously embolden the paramilitary groups that already exist throughout the region.
The bill comes from Idaho National Guard general counsel Maj. Steve Stokes, who said it was part of an ongoing effort to eliminate laws and regulations that are considered unnecessary red tape, as directed by Idaho Gov. Brad Little.
The law, which says people can't start their own military company and also bars cities and towns from creating a local paramilitary service, is overly broad, doesn't include enforcement language and doesn't apply to the Idaho Military Division, Stokes said. The law also prohibits parades by armed groups, with special carve-outs for military veterans, the Idaho National Guard and other organizations.
"Peaceful assembly cannot be restricted,” Stokes said, and other state laws already prohibit “unpeaceable assembly.”
Stokes said he couldn't find any example of the anti-militia law being enforced in its nearly 100-year history. All 50 states have similar anti-militia laws on the books, and they have sometimes been used elsewhere to target extremist organizations.
Several Idaho residents urged the lawmakers to make the law stronger instead of repealing it.
Sandpoint Mayor Shelby Rognstad told the committee that the bill was dangerous because “it invites private militias that have no accountability to civil authority — they answer to no one.”
It's a concern Sandpoint has seen firsthand, he said, when a group of high school students organized a human rights march a couple of summers ago and an unfounded rumor spread on social media that an “antifa gang” was going to attack Sandpoint. That prompted unregulated paramilitary groups to descend on the town, he said.
“A group of heavily armed people started patrolling our our little town, and many people in the community felt harassed and intimidated," Rognstad told the lawmakers.
www.myjournalcourier.com/news/article/Lawmaker-panel-advances-bill-lifting-Idaho-s-16924976.php
The move from the House Transportation and Defense Committee came Wednesday afternoon after the lawmakers heard from several residents who said the legislation could dangerously embolden the paramilitary groups that already exist throughout the region.
The bill comes from Idaho National Guard general counsel Maj. Steve Stokes, who said it was part of an ongoing effort to eliminate laws and regulations that are considered unnecessary red tape, as directed by Idaho Gov. Brad Little.
The law, which says people can't start their own military company and also bars cities and towns from creating a local paramilitary service, is overly broad, doesn't include enforcement language and doesn't apply to the Idaho Military Division, Stokes said. The law also prohibits parades by armed groups, with special carve-outs for military veterans, the Idaho National Guard and other organizations.
"Peaceful assembly cannot be restricted,” Stokes said, and other state laws already prohibit “unpeaceable assembly.”
Stokes said he couldn't find any example of the anti-militia law being enforced in its nearly 100-year history. All 50 states have similar anti-militia laws on the books, and they have sometimes been used elsewhere to target extremist organizations.
Several Idaho residents urged the lawmakers to make the law stronger instead of repealing it.
Sandpoint Mayor Shelby Rognstad told the committee that the bill was dangerous because “it invites private militias that have no accountability to civil authority — they answer to no one.”
It's a concern Sandpoint has seen firsthand, he said, when a group of high school students organized a human rights march a couple of summers ago and an unfounded rumor spread on social media that an “antifa gang” was going to attack Sandpoint. That prompted unregulated paramilitary groups to descend on the town, he said.
“A group of heavily armed people started patrolling our our little town, and many people in the community felt harassed and intimidated," Rognstad told the lawmakers.
www.myjournalcourier.com/news/article/Lawmaker-panel-advances-bill-lifting-Idaho-s-16924976.php