Do we really need an advisory vote to pick an Idaho state gun? | Opinion
I love guns as much as the next guy, but I’m not so sure we need to have an advisory vote on the November ballot asking voters to choose an official Idaho state gun.
I don’t disagree with the premise.
“We’ve got a lot of state items — state bird, I think we even had in State Affairs at one time we were talking about a state pie flavor,” Rep. Jason Monks, R-Meridian, said March 18 in the House Ways and Means Committee meeting. “But we don’t have a state gun, and a lot of states do have state guns, and Idaho should have a state gun.”
Ten states have adopted an official state gun, according to the NRA.
For example, Alaska’s state gun is the pre-1964 Winchester Model 70, adopted in 2014; Arizona’s is the Colt Single Action Army revolver; Texas’ is the Colt Walker revolver; and Utah’s is the M1911 pistol.
Monks’ bill suggests six similar options for the state gun:
- Winchester Model 1894 (.30-30)
- Winchester Model 1873 “Gun that Won the West” (.44-40);
- 1873 Colt Single Action Army Revolver “Peacemaker” (.45 Colt);
- M1 Garand rifle (.30-06);
- Colt M1911 .45 automatic Colt pistol (.45 ACP); or
- Remington Model 700 bolt-action rifle (.30-06).”
The bill also says that the Legislative Council may add additional guns to the list. (Don’t be surprised if someone tries to get the AR-15 on there.)
House Bill 932 passed the committee Wednesday and the full House on Friday and now heads to the Senate.
Honestly, the idea of a state gun isn’t a bad one. Idahoans love their guns. We may be the most pro-gun state in the union. Monks’ bill notes that Idaho has one of the highest per-capita gun ownership rates in the country.
But there are a couple of problems with Monks’ bill.
First, Monks introduced this bill on March 18, when legislators supposedly are trying to wrap things up and go home to run for reelection.
Quit introducing new bills, for Pete’s sake. Monks could have and should have brought this up in January. Monks said this is tied to the 250th anniversary celebration of America. Well, we knew that was coming a long time ago. No need to do this in the waning days of the legislative session.
Second, Rep. Monica Church, D-Boise, brought up a salient point. Legislators just days earlier voted to advance a bill to streamline November ballots, acknowledging that with a possible constitutional amendment and two citizen initiatives on the ballot in addition to all the regular federal, state and local races, it was going to get expensive for county clerks to print thousands and thousands of pages. Isn’t this the argument that legislators use to put more limits on citizen initiatives, that ballots will get too long and onerous?
But here they are considering something that will add even more pages to everyone’s ballot.
Third, why do we need a ballot measure to vote on what everyone’s favorite gun is?
Why not just have an online poll, then bring the results to a germane committee and vote on it? An advisory vote is just that — advisory. It requires no action and carries no weight.
Remember when legislators made a schoolgirl jump through a bunch of hoops just to get the Idaho giant salamander named as the state amphibian? She didn’t need any expensive advisory ballot measure.
Personally, I like the idea of debating which gun best represents Idaho, the different makes and models and years and their importance to our history. I love talking about and learning about guns. It would be a fun exercise.
But you know the saying, “This meeting could have been an email”?
Well, this advisory vote could be an online poll.
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.
