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, affirmed 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.
I am one of "those people" who moved to Sandpoint from another state. I am neither a white nationalist nor a member of the Redoubt movement, nor, God forbid, a member of the Taliban, as Sandpoint Mayor Shelby Rognstad suggests. I have many friends, and none of them fit the mayor's mold either.
Is North Idaho a center for the “American or Christian version” of the Taliban?
A Dutch TV film crew in October 2022 filmed a piece on North Idaho, especially Sandpoint and Coeur d'Alene, featuring among others, Sandpoint Mayor Shelby Rognstad. The show probably will ensure that Dutch tourists will not flock here.