BOISE — A divided Idaho House on Tuesday killed Senate-passed legislation to ban exploding targets on public land during fire season, on the heels of the destructive Sharps Fire last summer and several others. Opponents said they thought the bill was an attack on gun enthusiasts and evidence of a “nanny state.”

Rep. Marc Gibbs, R-Grace, the House sponsor of the bill, SB 1178a, said the Sharps Fire in Blaine County, started by an exploding target on July 29, 2018, burned 65,000 acres and cost more than $9 million. A 35-year-old Bellevue man admitted to starting the fire while using an exploding target. Gibbs also cited three other major recent wildfires in southern Idaho. “Those were all started by exploding targets,” he said.

Rep. Priscilla Giddings, R-White Bird, said she’d been informed by a representative of a company that manufactures the targets that “they are incapable of causing fires because they draw oxygen out of the air,” and she asked Gibbs about that.

He responded, “I can tell you where you can find YouTube videos of one that has happened.” He said he’s used exploding targets himself, and seen them ignite a fire. “I can testify to that personally,” Gibbs told the House.

“I believe it’s an attack on gun enthusiasts,” declared Rep. Heather Scott, R-Blanchard. Until this year, she said, “I’d never heard that this was a major cause of fires in Idaho. I am adamantly opposed to this. If we’re going to allow logging companies to burn piles during these months, May through October, we’re going to allow Idaho Department of Lands to burn slash piles, why are we going to stop gun enthusiasts?”

Rep. Tammy Nichols, R-Middleton, also spoke out against the bill, saying she feared its definitions were so broad that if she were shooting water-filled milk cartons and they exploded when shot, they’d be classified as exploding targets.

“I feel that this might cause unintended consequences,” Nichols said.

Rep. Chad Christensen, R-Ammon, said, “I feel this is a bill that increases the nanny state. … Many feel that BLM is not being truthful with regard to these fires.”

The bill was killed on a close, 33-35 vote, with two House members absent. It had earlier passed the Senate, 27-8.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, at least five southern Idaho fires were started by exploding targets last summer.