Idaho’s Newest Self-Defense Law is Great News for Concealed Carriers

So a show of hands; who amongst you knew that your self-defense rights were expanded in Idaho this month? Anyone? Well if you do know about Senate Bill 1313 good on you for being a knowledgeable citizen. And for those of you who don’t have time to follow every bill going through Idaho legislature, don’t worry, ConcealedCarry.com has you covered.

Senate Bill 1313 was a bill sponsored by Republican State Senator Todd Lakey of Idaho’s 12th State District. The bill, by its own words “consolidated and codified existing law to clearly protect the inherent right of a person to defend themselves”. In other words, it made folks like you or me, who are by their very nature self-defending citizens have a much easier time should our defense skills ever need to be called upon.

The legislation, that went into legal effect on July 1st, clarifies that in the exercise of self-defense, a law-abiding citizen may stand their ground and protect themselves or their family anywhere they have a legal right to be. So it’s essentially “Castle Doctrine” outside of your “Castle”. 

Say that you and your family are out to eat and a man attempts to rob the store with a gun, well under Senate Bill 1313, provided you may legally carry in the establishment, you may defend yourself accordingly should a terrible situation like this occur and you feel your life is under threat.

But that’s not the only piece of Senate Bill 1313 that helps self-defenders. It also makes home defense easier to handle in court as the bill also protects the right of a person to defend themselves against intruders who enter the defender’s home or business unlawfully or by force, without the defender having to demonstrate that he reasonably feared that the intruder was about to cause death or great bodily harm. The new law shows that just by entering your home or place of work unlawfully, the person doing so is showing enough to make it so that you may defend yourself as you see fit without worry of ramification for the law.

So while it is smart to still get your hands on self-defense insurance if you are a carrier, the Idaho state legislature is certainly making it easier on those of us who are looking to keep ourselves safe without having to jump through so many hoops explaining why we were defending ourselves, and that seems like a good thing.