Idaho voters can help pick the state’s official gun in 2026 general election

This year, Idaho voters have a lot to decide on: Who will be the state’s next governor or U.S. senator? Should two constitutional amendments pass? Should voters pass their own law to repeal the state’s abortion ban?

But in the mix is a poll that the Idaho Legislature called for: What should be the state’s official gun?

Idaho, a Republican supermajority-controlled state, has strong protections for gun ownership — such as not requiring permits for concealed carry in city limits. The state Legislature considered a bill this year to allow members of the public to carry concealed guns inside parts of courthouses that aren’t meant for court, like offices for county commissioners and clerks. 

The advisory question on the ballot this year asks voters to weigh in on the Legislature’s possible decision to declare a firearm — out of a mix of well-known Western and American guns — as Idaho’s official state gun. 

If Idaho declared a state gun, the recognition would grow the list of officially declared state symbols, like the state flower, the syringa; the state gem, the star garnet; or the state amphibian, the Idaho giant salamander. Ten other states have declared state guns, according to the National Rifle Association, a prominent gun lobbying group.

Idaho lawmaker hopes the advisory question will boost voter turnout

One of the lawmakers behind the push for the ballot question, Rep. Jason Monks, R-Meridian, said he thought it might drum up voter turnout during a year when many consequential issues are on the ballot. In election years when the president isn’t on the ballot, like this year, fewer voters tend to participate.

“Voter turnout is always important,” he said in an interview. “… When you have a lot of voter apathy, I think we don’t get as good of results as we could if we had an informed electorate that was actually out and voting.”

The votes won’t be the final say. 

“The results,” the bill says, “will guide the Legislature as to which gun shall be designated the state gun of Idaho.” 

But Monks said this is the only time he knows of when the state sought public input before designating a state item. 

Monks acknowledges that not everyone loves the idea of declaring a state gun.

“I don’t think you can make everybody always happy. The majority of people in Idaho do have guns,” he said. “We have a pretty high percentage of gun ownership in our state. And so I think it reflects the fact that Idaho is a very gun-friendly state, and that it is an important part of our culture in many aspects.”

He stressed that the push for the ballot question didn’t take much time.

“I had some people ask me, ‘How come this is your priority?’ I’m like, ‘Well, this isn’t my priority. It’s just something we did kind of on the side,’” Monks said. “I put in 12 to 14 hour days there all the time, and I can tell you I spent very little time on this particular issue. I just thought it was a simple way of encouraging voter turnout, and that was it.”

The list of six guns selected by the Legislature for voters to pick between includes a “smattering of well-known American guns,” said Danny Michael, the curator of the Cody Firearms Museum in Wyoming, which collects and displays thousands of guns.

None of the guns on the list, he said, “have a developmental tie to Idaho,” unlike state guns in some other states, including Utah. But several have ties to the West.

Here’s what you need to know about the guns on Idaho’s ballot:

Winchester Model 1894 (.30-30): The most produced lever action rifle, the gun is one of few firearms used in the West that actually originated in the West, Michael said.

It was invented by John Browning, a prolific gun inventor who was born in Ogden, Utah, which is near eastern Idaho. The gun is one of the greatest representations of hunting, said Dylan Stocker, who owns Old Arms of Idaho, which sells vintage gun parts across the U.S. 

Winchester Model 1873 (.44-40): Sometimes called the “Gun that Won the West,” the gun became a staple in the early days of Western TV and cinema, topping over 700,000 sales, Michael said. To Stocker, the gun — used for personal security and for supplying food — represents Idaho’s history as a pioneering state. “Idaho was formed by those that were willing to go into the great beyond and get a new life started,” he said. 

But its nickname, Michael said, is a bit of a misnomer; it was a marketing slogan by the gun manufacturer. The gun, he said, often ended up in the hands of Native Americans who were defending the West. He added that the gun became “widely associated with the American West, both through its real-life usage and its popularization in media.” 

1873 Colt Single Action Army Revolver, or “Peacemaker,” (.45 Colt): One of the most collectable firearms, the gun was also a staple in old Westerns, Stocker said. The gun was sold commercially and was adopted by the U.S. military, Michael said. “Troopers at Little Bighorn … would have been carrying Colt Single Action Armies. It would’ve seen military service throughout the Plains Wars and beyond,” he said. Back in the day, most American sheriffs carried the gun, Stocker said.

M1 Garand rifle (.30-06): A semiautomatic rifle introduced just before World War II, the gun made the U.S. stand out as the only nation routinely using a semiautomatic rifle — which can easily fire repeated shots — when other nations were largely using slower bolt-action rifles, Michael said. Every veteran of that time, Stocker said, “was very familiar with the M1 Garand. And it was one of the technologies … that carried us through.” The rifle is also known for its distinctive ping — when an empty clip ejects.  

Colt M1911 .45 automatic Colt pistol (.45 ACP): This semiautomatic pistol is still one of the most popular handguns, Stocker said. Adopted in 1911, the gun was used by the military through both of the world wars and up to the 1980s. Today, companies still manufacture the gun. The gun was also invented by Browning, of Utah. It is the state of Utah’s official firearm. 

Remington Model 700 bolt-action rifle (.30-06): A bolt-action hunting rifle that’s commonly used for hunting. Stocker said the gun has “tremendous accuracy,” and most people who hunt “have shot one or had a friend that carried one.” Even with newer guns available, Michael said he still sees people hunting with the gun because they “trust them a lot when the hunt is on the line.”

How to decide on the state gun?

When deciding what gun should be the official state gun, it comes down to personal preference. 

Some guns on the list are more popular, like the M1911, which Stocker said is likely personally owned more than any other firearm in Idaho. But, on the other hand, some guns — like the M1 Garand — played a big part in the founding or keeping of the country, and were well-known by veterans, he added. 

While the list doesn’t have guns that were made in Idaho, an Idahoan did play a big role in helping develop technology for one gun that isn’t on the list. Revered gun enthusiast Elmer Keith, based out of Salmon in eastern-central Idaho, developed the cartridge for the .44 Magnum, which was later used by the popular Smith & Wesson .44 Magnum, Stocker said. 

Monks, the lawmaker behind the ballot question, said developing the list was difficult — and lawmakers he talked to opted to leave out assault rifles to instead list more historical firearms.

He said he had no intention to leave out the .44 Magnum. But if that’s what people want as the state gun, he hinted that could be possible — even though voters can’t pick that in November. 

“I don’t want it to sound like ‘We don’t have to do what the people say because … it’s an advisory vote, right?’” Monks said, hinting at its nonbinding nature. “And so, what if we find out here in a little bit that more people were frustrated that that’s not the gun that they wanted. And we could make that our state gun. I think it would probably go a little bit against the grain of what we’re doing in that we’re asking Idahoans to tell us what their favorite gun is, and then we go ahead and do something different.”

    A digital representation of a Winchester Model 1873. (Photo courtesy of Robert Logan/Idaho Secretary of State’s Office)
  

    A digital representation of a 1873 Colt Single Action Army Revolver. (Photo courtesy of Robert Logan/Idaho Secretary of State’s Office)
  

    A digital representation of an M1 Garand rifle. (Photo courtesy of Robert Logan/Idaho Secretary of State’s Office)
  

    A digital representation of a Colt M1911 .45 automatic Colt pistol. (Photo courtesy of Robert Logan/Idaho Secretary of State’s Office)
  

    A digital representation of a Remington Model 700 bolt-action rifle. (Photo courtesy of Robert Logan/Idaho Secretary of State’s Office)