Idaho voters nominate lever-action rifle ‘that Won the West’ to be state’s official gun

In a non-binding vote, Idaho voters nominated a lever-action rifle, dubbed the “Gun that Won the West” to be the state’s official gun.

The gun, the Winchester Model 1873, had the backing from about 31% of Idaho voters, the highest share of any of the guns on the ballot in Tuesday’s general election, according to unofficial results from the Idaho Secretary of State’s Office at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday. All of Idaho’s 44 counties were reporting election results by then.

The vote tees up a decision by the Idaho Legislature to potentially join 10 other states that have official state guns. Idaho, a Republican supermajority-controlled state, has strong protections for gun ownership — such as not requiring permits for concealed carry in city limits. 

None of the six guns — placed on the ballot in a unanimous vote by the Legislature — received a majority vote. 

Here’s how all the guns on the list fared with voters this year:

• Winchester Model 1873 “Gun that Won the West” (.44-40): 31.1% of the vote, or 164,394 votes.
• Winchester Model 1894 (.30-30): 25.32% of the vote, or 133,859 votes. 
• 1873 Colt Single Action Army Revolver, or “Peacemaker,” (.45 Colt): 15.26% of the vote, or 80,699 votes.
• Remington Model 700 bolt-action rifle (.30-06): 12.45% of the vote, or 65,818 votes.
• Colt M1911 .45 automatic Colt pistol (.45 ACP): 8.78% of the vote, or 46,405 votes.
• M1 Garand rifle (.30-06): 7.09% of the vote, or 37,500 votes.

None of the guns on Idaho’s ballot have developmental ties to the state, unlike the official guns in some other states, like Utah.

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.

House Majority Leader Jason Monks, R-Meridian, said in an interview last month that he pushed to put the question on the ballot to help drum up voter turnout. The measure, called an advisory question, had the lowest share of ballots cast of any of the statewide ballot measures. 

About 70% of voters cast votes in the race for the state gun, out of the more than 731,000 of voters who turned out to the polls for this election, unofficial election results show. Nearly 99% of voters cast votes on Proposition 1, a ballot initiative — which voters rejected — that sought to repeal Idaho’s near-total abortion ban. About 97% of Idaho voters cast ballots on each of the constitutional amendments: A successful one to declare English as the state’s official language, and a failed one that would’ve revoked voters’ powers to legalize marijuana and other drugs.

Idaho voters turned out to vote at high rates this year in a midterm election, when voters tend to vote less. About 69% of the state’s registered voters cast ballots, early data show. But election officials expect the turnout rate to drop several points as they factor in voters who registered to vote on Election Day.