Not gunning for safety laws

Sen. Steve Vick didn't feel an ounce of fear, he said, during a January gun rally in the capitol rotunda in Boise.

Many among the crowd had rifles slung across their backs, handguns bulging at their hips.

But Vick wasn't worried about guns appearing in a government building. Just as he isn't worried about fellow legislators carrying concealed guns every day during the legislative session.

"I feel safer knowing there's guns here, and that people I respect have them," the Dalton Gardens lawmaker said.

What doesn't make him feel better is putting more regulations on gun ownership.

Like many Idaho lawmakers and gun rights supporters, Vick is resistant to legislation that complicates citizens' rights to obtain and use firearms.

He doesn't consider peace of mind to be guaranteed by some of the gun safety laws in other states, including requiring safety training to purchase a gun.

"I don't feel like we need any more regulation in Idaho on gun ownership," Vick said. "People are too quick to blame the gun for the problem, and not the person behind the crime. We have to deal with the issue of people. It's always a people problem."

Oris it?

But a recent study suggests otherwise.

U.S. states with the most firearm-related legislation are also the states with the lowest rates of firearm deaths, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Overall, states with the most firearm safety regulations had a 42 percent lower gun death rate than states with the least number of laws, the researchers found.

The lower death rate applied to both homicides and suicides.

"A couple of things surprised us. One was just the magnitude of the relationship. A 42 percent reduction is a huge reduction," said Dr. Eric Fleegler, a pediatric emergency physician at Boston Children's Hospital and a researcher on the study.

The study analyzed all firearm related deaths reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from 2007-2010.

During those years, there were 121,084 firearm fatalities in the U.S.

The study also scored the strength of each state's firearm legislation in those years.

A state's score was based on how many of its gun laws fell into five safety categories of intended effect: curbing firearm trafficking; strengthening background checks; ensuring child safety; banning military style assault weapons; and restricting guns in public places.

Hawaii boasted the lowest state-based firearm fatality rate, of 2.9 per 100,000 individuals per year. The state has 16 gun safety laws, according to the study.

Louisiana had the highest firearm fatality rate, of 18 per 100,000 per year. The state has one firearms safety law.

Massachusetts ranked as the top state for number of firearms safety laws, with 22.5 on the books. It has a firearm fatality rate of 3.4 per 100,000.

The study found Idaho tied with Arizona for the third weakest firearm laws in the nation.

Idaho has 1.5 laws that fall into the study's safety categories, the researchers assessed (the rating splits the difference of years when Idaho had one safety law, and later two).

The Gem State's firearm fatality rate is 11.8 per 100,000 individuals per year.

Of those, 10.8 per 100,000 are suicides, and 1.1 per 100,000 are homicides.

The study can be viewed at: http://archinte.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1661390.

Idaho's firearms laws were scored weak for preventing fatalities, Dr. Fleegler contended, because they lack a variety of safety measures.

Their state could have more laws ensuring child safety, he said, like mandating trigger safety locks or safe storage of firearms.

There is also no requirement for universal background checks, he added, and not enough laws geared toward reducing gun trafficking.

"Obviously, each state has to make their own decision about what types of laws they want," Fleegler said. "All (gun safety) laws have potential."

Easy access in Idaho

The best aspect of Idaho's firearm laws, said Rep. Vito Barbieri, R-Dalton Gardens, is that they don't make it hard to access guns.

"The idea is not that it's the law saying we can carry these things. It's not giving us the right to carry these weapons," Barbieri said. "It simply ratifies the God-given right to defend oneself."

Judge for yourself.

Under Idaho law:

- There is no requirement for qualifications or training to purchase a gun.

- A permit is required to carry a concealed weapon. County sheriffs who issue the permits may require applicants to demonstrate familiarity with a firearm. Applicants can do so by various means, including completion of a hunter education course or completion of a firearms safety course.

- There are no restrictions on the kind of firearms individuals can possess, like semiautomatic weapons.

- There are no requirements on how a gun can be stored, or that restrict access of firearms to children.

- All individuals over 21 in Idaho are eligible for a concealed carry weapons permit, unless they meet certain criminal or mental conditions. Those include prior felony conviction, being a fugitive or drug user, illegal alien, lacking mental capacity, being dishonorably discharged by the armed forces and receiving judgment or suspended sentences for one or more crimes of misdemeanor violence.

- A sheriff, under his/her discretion, can issue a weapons permit to individuals ages 18 to 21.

- Minors can't legally possess or be sold a gun without written permission from a guardian.

- A licensed individual cannot carry a concealed weapon into a courthouse, juvenile detention facility, jail or school.

- It is a misdemeanor in Idaho to possess a firearm or other deadly or dangerous weapon while on school property. It's also a misdemeanor to brandish a deadly weapon or shoot at another person.

- Threatening violence on school grounds is a misdemeanor.

- Firearms dealers must initiate the background check required by federal law.

- No background check is required for transfer of firearms.

Proposals for protection

More firearm related laws have been proposed this Legislative session. These are a few:

- HO192: Would provide for an enhanced carry concealed weapons license, requiring additional training in personal protection from a certified instructor.

The enhanced license is expected to be recognized in most other states.

- HO219: Would penalize Idaho law enforcement with a misdemeanor for following federal orders to confiscate firearms, except those used for committing a felony.

- SJR102: Would amend Idaho Constitution to provide that all able-bodied persons 18 and over can be subject to military duty. Goal is to protect the right of citizens to keep and bear arms.

- HO183: Would amend Idaho code, removing language granting cities the power to regulate, prevent and punish for the carrying of concealed weapons (language found in Idaho Code, Section 50-308).

Versus other state laws

How do we compare to the rest of the country?

Well, in some states it's considerably harder, and in others it's even easier, to obtain and use firearms.

Here are a few laws in several states that go above, or below, Idaho's level of regulation:

- Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey: Require permits to purchase firearms:

- Hawaii and Massachusetts: Allow the purchase of only one handgun per permit. Safety exam or training required to obtain a permit.

- Hawaii: Registration required for all firearms. Background checks required for transfer of firearms.

- New Jersey: Police record of all handgun transfers required.

- Vermont: Only state with no law prohibiting certain categories of people (i.e. felons, illegal residents) from possessing firearms. No permit required for concealed or open carry.

- California, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island: Trigger locking devices required on some or all firearms.

- California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York: Assault weapons ban.

- Connecticut: Requires firearms to be stored in a locked box or safe, if the owner knows they would be accessible to anyone under 16.

- Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, Texas: Impose criminal liability for allowing a child to gain access to the firearm.

- California, Hawaii, Massachusetts: Impose criminal liability for negligent storage of unloaded firearms.

- Arkansas, Iowa, Nebraska, New Mexico, Virginia and Vermont: Only states that don't have a Stand Your Ground or Castle Doctrine on their books (Virginia does have common law versions of both). The Castle Doctrine allows people to use deadly force in their homes against an intruder. Stand Your Ground allows deadly force to be used in self-defense in public places.

- Alaska: No permit required to carry firearms. No background check required for transfer of a firearm between private, unlicensed parties.

Several websites outline basic gun laws across the states: www.smartgunlaws.org, www.USAcarry.com, and www.homesecurity.org/blog/guns-in-america-how-to-buy-sell-shoot-in-every-state/

So all this means what?

It's no surprise that states stacked with gun regulation have fewer firearm deaths, said Ed Santos, shooting instructor and owner of Center Target Sports in Post Falls.

More firearm laws means more requirements for owning a gun, Santos argued.

Which, he said, results in fewer people owning them.

"There are less people who have the guns, so the number (of deaths) has to be lower," Santos said.

Santos thinks Idaho's gun laws are mostly fine the way they are.

But he supports creating a shooting standard to purchase a gun.

"As someone who testifies in concealed carry shooting (cases), it's always an additional burden on the defense when questions come up to one's proficiency with a firearm," Santos said. "If you have a shooting standard that person has to meet prior to getting a firearm, that argument is easily addressed."

Public safety is important to the Idaho Legislature, acknowledged Rep. Barbieri.

But he questions any firearm legislation that would hinder people's right to bear arms.

To him, that includes many firearm laws in other states.

Including safety training requirements to buy a gun.

"It's just another way to limit an individual's ability to defend themselves. Suppose they can't afford a training class, or suppose they don't have time to get to a class?" Barbieri said. "If you want safety training, it boils down to treat every gun like it's loaded, and never point a gun at anyone. There's your safety class."

Rep. Luke Malek, R-Coeur d'Alene, believes Idaho gun owners will use their guns cautiously, with or without a litany of safety laws.

"We have a culture that with firearms comes a tremendous amount of responsibility," Malek said.

A little more responsibility

More firearm regulations do appear to result in less gun ownership, Dr. Fleegler acknowledged.

"Our study definitely demonstrates that in states that have the most laws, there are lower rates of household firearm ownerships," he said.

But that isn't the sole reason states with more safety laws have fewer fatalities, he said.

"These are reasonable regulations that can help reduce the number of gun deaths," Fleegler said of provisions like limiting child access and required training.

He doubts that more safety requirements actually prevent people from obtaining guns, he added.

"There are no states that prohibit guns," he pointed out. "That we have to register our cars and have drivers licenses to drive, that doesn't prevent people owning and driving them."

The study tallied that 31,000 die a year from firearm deaths in the U.S., he added.

That's a body count Americans wouldn't allow for any other product, Fleegler argued.

Maybe the lawbooks won't solve all of America's gun violence.

But the numbers do indicate that they can help, Fleegler said.

"If 10 people die because of a toy, there's an incredible outcry to make sure it doesn't happen again," he said. "There is nothing else we would tolerate as being a reasonable amount of people to die, such as we do with firearm deaths."