High court upholds Festival firearm ban

SANDPOINT — The Idaho Supreme Court unanimously affirmed a lower court decision on a four-year lawsuit challenging a ban on firearms during the Festival at Sandpoint’s summer music series.

"This appeal concerns whether a private party that leases public property from an Idaho municipality may govern those who come and go from its property during the lease," Justice John R. Stegner wrote for the court. "The short answer is yes."

The ruling, which was issued Thursday morning, upheld a First District Court ruling that found the Festival at Sandpoint has the right to set rules for those entering Memorial Field during the two weeks it leases the field for the summer music series. Among those requirements is a ban on attendees possessing weapons inside the venue.

"After four years, we are pleased to have finally reached a resolution in the courts," Sandpoint Mayor Shelby Rognstad said.

Rognstad said the city has leased the facility to the Festival of Sandpoint for its concert series for almost 40 years.

"The Festival sets the rules for its concerts," the mayor said. "The city of Sandpoint does not have a policy restricting the public carrying guns on public property and the Sandpoint Police Department does not enforce rules established by the Festival for its events."

Like the city, Festival at Sandpoint officials said they were pleased by the ruling.

"As the original lawsuits against the city of Sandpoint and the Festival at Sandpoint were deemed to not have merit, we at the Festival at Sandpoint were confident that the Idaho Supreme Court would have a similar and favorable decision," Festival officials said in a statement. "We are grateful for the conclusion of this nearly four-year process which unnecessarily demanded resources from both the city of Sandpoint, as well as our non-profit organization."

The safety of its fans, volunteers, staff, and artists is of the utmost importance and "continues to be at the forefront of everything we do at the Festival at Sandpoint," Festival officials said.

While the ruling answers the question of whether leaseholders can ban weapons on what otherwise would be public property, Scott Herndon, now a state senator, said it also reveals a "massive legal loophole" in the state's firearms laws.

“The entire purpose of our lawsuit was to gain clarity on the current state of the law in Idaho for Idaho’s many hundreds of thousands of gun owners," Herndon said in a statement written on campaign letterhead.

He claimed the ruling allows the government to ban gun owners from a site, such as a farmers market, by leasing it to that group and allowing them to ban it instead.

“If a city or county in Idaho is against the Second Amendment, they now have a way to keep gun owners out of their city streets, public parks and county fairs,” Herndon said. “Simply lease the public ground to a private entity and let them ban guns from public property in Idaho."

Herndon, who represents the First Legislative District in Bonner and Boundary counties, said he will introduce legislation to protect gun rights in the state.

“I will go to the mat to find a legislative solution for Idaho’s gun owners," Herndon said. "While property rights are fundamental, gun rights are equally fundamental, and the right of self-defense must be protected on public property."

The case stems from a 2019 lease by the city of War Memorial Field to the Festival at Sandpoint. Herndon and Jeff Avery purchased tickets to a Festival concert but were denied entry when they attempted to bring their firearms with them. The pair were told if they attempted to enter, Festival officials would sign a citizen's complaint for trespassing.

While the pair left, they later sued, along with the Idaho Second Amendment Alliance, Inc. and Second Amendment Foundation, Inc., contending their right to self-defense had been illegally taken from them.

Idaho law forbids curtailment of Second Amendment rights on public lands. War Memorial Field is owned by the city and leased to the Festival for two weeks in late July to early August.

The Festival, which has long banned firearms during its concerts, began enforcing the prohibition and conducting more thorough screening procedures in 2018 in order to fulfill contractual obligations with artists. The city maintains the Festival can enact its own security protocols because of the lease arrangement.

The lease, through a series of agreements, covers everything from maximum attendance, noise limits and who pays for water and electricity and water to a requirement the Festival carry its own general liability insurance and a requirement the group provide "adequate security" at no cost to the city.

In arguing before the Idaho Supreme Court, Caldwell attorney Donald Kilmer, representing Herndon, Avery and the two Second Amendment groups, said the city is the guardian of the public's property and cannot arbitrarily give rights associated with them away. The lawsuit sought to force a lease that guaranteed compliance with state law.

While Herndon and Avery claimed the matter is about an illegal lease and the city negotiating away the right to self-defense, the court ruled the arguments were flawed.

"This court has long held that a lease is a contract," Stegner wrote.

Claims the lease violate public policy also were rejected, with the court saying that U.S. and Idaho constitutional protections related to the Second Amendment "apply only to governmental actors, not private parties."

While the appellants alleged a conspiracy and coordinated effort to strip them of their rights, the district court found that "there are no facts in the record to support such a claim," Stegner wrote.

A recent 2022 economic study completed by the University of Idaho found the annual economic impact related to the Festival is $3,762,005 in sales transactions; $1,763,746 in gross regional product; $1,073,159 in total compensation, and 37 FTE jobs.