The Coeur d'Alene City Council says guns will now permitted at public events like parades.
The Coeur d'Alene Press reports the council unanimously made the change Tuesday night, changing an ordinance prohibited guns within 1,000 feet of a parade. City Attorney Mike Gridley says the rule was originally created to avoid conflict in the community when the white supremacist group Aryan Nations was still headquartered in the region. The Aryan Nations compound closed after lawsuit brought by the Southern Poverty Law Center bankrupted the group in 2000.
Gridley noted that in 2008 the Idaho Legislature passed a law prohibiting cities from regulating the possession, transportation or carrying of firearms. Councilman Ron Edinger says that the city could be at risk of a lawsuit if someone believed the local rule violated the newer state law.
Councilwoman Kiki Miller says there could still be the potential for future conflict over the rule since other weapons, including knives, are still banned from parades.