Ford Idaho Center is now school property. Are gun shows still allowed?
I love going to gun shows, and I’ve been a regular attendee of the Lewis Clark Trader shows that are held several times a year at the Ford Idaho Center.
The first gun show of the year is scheduled for this weekend.
But there’s been some scuttlebutt that since the Ford Idaho Center ownership was transferred in December from the city of Nampa to the College of Western Idaho, you can’t host a gun show on a college property.
Not so, according to everyone I’ve talked to.
“As far as we’re told, there is no issue,” Jack Snider, of Lewis Clark, told me in a phone interview. “Things are going to run the way they’ve been running. Nothing’s changing.”
But the confusion is understandable.
Idaho code 18-3309, which has been amended a few times the past several years to allow for even greater freedom for gun owners on college campuses, still restricts who may and may not carry a weapon on campus.
That law gives authority to set the rules for firearms on campus to the college’s governing board.
CWI’s firearms/weapons policy states that possession, carrying, transporting or use of weapons “while upon CWI owned or controlled properties, in CWI vehicles, and during CWI sponsored activities or events is strictly prohibited,” except for law enforcement and people with enhanced concealed carry permits.
But even people with an enhanced concealed carry permit may not carry in a “public entertainment facility,” which “means an arena, stadium, amphitheater, auditorium, theater or similar facility with a seating capacity of at least one thousand (1,000) persons” owned by the college, according to state law.
Reading that, you’d think a gun show at the Ford Idaho Center would be prohibited, right?
Even though CWI’s policy expressly prohibits any firearms on school property, CWI’s policy also allows written exceptions on a case-by-case basis for events that involve firearms, such as displays or shows, Ashley Smith, CWI spokesman, wrote in an email to me. That includes the gun shows, which are held a half-dozen times or so a year at the Ford Idaho Center.
No loaded firearms will be permitted on the premises, according to Smith, and CWI will require the vendor to post clear signage stating that no loaded firearms are permitted. All firearms and weapons must be inspected and cleared through security before entering the event area, and the signage will reflect this requirement.
Lewis Clark Trader has been holding gun shows in Idaho for the past 46 years, according to Paul Snider, who started the business and still runs it today.
He said Lewis Clark has put on 1,200 shows over the years, possibly more than anyone else in the country.
Lewis Clark Trader has several gun shows scheduled around the state for 2026. In addition to seven shows scheduled at the Ford Idaho Center, others are scheduled for Post Falls, Coeur d’Alene, Twin Falls, Moscow, Lewiston, Burley, Pocatello and Idaho Falls, mostly on county fairgrounds or private venues.
Lewis Clark held 164 shows at Expo Idaho in Ada County up until 2016, Snider said. That’s when Ada County commissioners put a moratorium on gun shows following two accidental shootings that injured four people in separate incidents in 2013 and 2015 at Expo Idaho. Ada County commissioners lifted the moratorium in 2018 but adopted new rules, which Jack and Paul Snider said were too prohibitive.
So Lewis Clark moved to the Ford Idaho Center.
“We’ve never had a problem here,” Paul Snider told me by phone. “The Ford Idaho Center has been super, super good to us. We’ve always appreciated doing business with them.”
It’s good to see that relationship will continue with the College of Western Idaho.
Scott McIntosh is the opinion editor of the Idaho Statesman. You can email him at smcintosh@idahostatesman.com or call him at 208-377-6202. Sign up for the free weekly email newsletter The Idaho Way.
This story was originally published January 3, 2026 at 4:00 AM.
