Idaho is set to vote on an official state gun this election

Idaho voters will decide a ballot question this Election Day that asks them to pick one of six firearms, and the tally will inform the legislature as it chooses an official state gun. Lawmakers who wrote this year's bill said guns drove westward expansion by letting pioneers hunt and protect their families. The candidates are two Winchester rifles from 1873 and 1894, the 1873 Colt single-action revolver, the Colt M1911 pistol, the M1 Garand rifle and the Remington Model 700 rifle. About a dozen states, among them Texas, Utah, West Virginia and Alaska, already have such a designation, according to The Independent.

Republican state Representative Jason Monks, a backer of the measure, told The Idaho Capital Sun that it might also bring out voters in a year when apathy is a concern. The Independent notes that Republican enthusiasm has sagged over living costs and the war in Iran. Neil Goodfellow, who sits on the board of the Idaho State Rifle & Pistol Association, told The Associated Press that none of the six holds a meaningful place in Idaho history and that many voters will be unsure what to pick. Some online commenters propose writing in a "potato gun" instead.

Summarized by PolitiKool from The Independent’s reporting. Read the full story at The Independent →