On Friday, C. L. "Butch" Otter, lieutenant governor for the state of Idaho, in cooperation with the state's Assistant Senate Majority Leader John Sandy, introduced in the Idaho Senate State Affairs Committee a resolution urging "state government to end business ties with contractors and service providers that discriminate against individuals and organizations lawfully exercising their 2nd Amendment rights."

In a statement released to WorldNetDaily, Otter said Idaho should "send a clear message" supporting the "Constitution and the rights of people to keep and bear arms," and that the state should "want to do business with folks who share those values."

Otter, who will likely pursue a U.S. congressional bid for retiring Idaho Rep. Helen Chenoweth-Hage's seat this fall, called the anti-firearms trend among corporate policy boards "disturbing."

"While that may be their prerogative from the standpoint of their own internal social agenda," Otter said, "it is our prerogative as a state to not do business with those who would discriminate against people exercising their constitutionally guaranteed rights."

In making his decision, Otter referenced a series of WorldNetDaily reports detailing Citibank's anti-firearms policy. Before issuing its reversal, Citibank's policy executives made headlines when a local Las Vegas branch office closed the account of a small shooting club called the Nevada Pistol Academy just three days after owner Chris Lorenzo opened it.

Mark Rodgers, a spokesman for Citibank, told WorldNetDaily that upon examining the local branch's decision, the corporate banking giant "went out and looked at our policies across (all Citibank branches) and found that (they) were inconsistent."

That inconsistency, Rodgers said, led to the decision by Citibank to make all of their policies "uniform" in all their branches.

"We decided that moving forward the practice of assessing a small business account will apply uniformly in small businesses," including those "engaged in the manufacture or sale of small firearms," he said.

Nevertheless -- and suspecting that other major U.S. firms have similar policies -- Otter is pressing forward with his initiative.

As an example of the kind of pressure states could apply to anti-gun corporations, Otter said, "Citibank has a large contract with the State of Idaho to provide transaction services for the Department of Health and Welfare's Quest card."

Though Citibank has reversed its policy, the lieutenant governor stressed that "we need to be sure that the people we are doing business with aren't also in the business of suppressing the rights of law-abiding gun owners."

Jeff L. Malmen, a spokesman for Otter, said the Senate committee "moved to print the measure" and will likely "consider it early next week." Neither he nor Otter predicted the eventual outcome of the resolution.

The resolution asks state lawmakers to "carefully examine" business contracts with all firms operating on behalf of the state, "to ensure that (Idaho) does not do business with entities that knowingly discriminate against Americans exercising their fundamental constitutional rights."

Though the resolution is specific to Idaho, Otter and Malmen hope other states will adopt similar measures.

Related stories:

Citibank forces gun withdrawal

Citibank confirms anti-gun stance

Big guns OK with Citibank