Gun Laws of Idaho

Basics

Weapon laws (Title 18, Ch. 33 IC)
Idaho does not have purchase permits, gun registration, or gun-owner licensing. There are no limits on magazine capacity or weapon types. There is no waiting period mandated for firearm purchases and private gun sales are legal. Concealed weapon licenses are shall issue, no license is required to carry a concealed firearm outside of city limits, no license is needed for any Idaho resident (even within city limits), and open carry is legal. Permitless concealed carry is legal for anyone regardless of residency.

Government buildings
A licensed concealed carrier may not carry a concealed firearm in a courthouse, detention center/jail (18-3302C). This does not apply to open carry. You cannot bring a firearm into a prison. 18-2510

No guns signs
'No guns' signs on private property do not have the force of law. A refusal to leave or disarm when requested would be trespassing. Hotels may legally prevent you from bringing in a firearm. 39-1805 and 39-1809

Bar carry
You may carry a firearm in an establishment that serves alcohol. You may not carry a concealed firearm while intoxicated. 18-3302B

School carry
You may not possess a firearm in any building, stadium or other structure on school grounds while being used for school purposes or riding school transportation. A firearm in a vehicle in the parking lot is okay. 18-3302D

Campus carry (college/university)
It is legal for an enhanced concealed license holder (18-3302K) or retired law enforcement officer (18-3302H) to carry a concealed firearm on a college or university campus except in dorms or public entertainment facilities.

Employee protections/parking lots
Employers are given immunity from liability from any claim for damages that may arise involving a firearm stored in an employee's vehicle. The intent of this section was to remove liability as an excuse for employers to prohibit firearms in private vehicles. 5-341

Car Carry
You may carry a loaded firearm in your vehicle as long as it is not concealed. If it is concealed, it must be unloaded. Concealed carry is not regulated outside of city limits. 18-3302(4)

Airports
You may not carry a firearm in any airport sterile area located beyond the TSA security checkpoints or on aircraft (excluding baggage). Otherwise, Idaho has no law prohibiting open or concealed carry within the other public areas of airports. 18-7503

Home carry
It is legal to carry a loaded firearm, concealed or unconcealed, in your own home, in your place of business, on your own property, or on someone else's property with their permission without a concealed weapon license. 18-3302(3)

Medical questions
The Idaho health care exchange (Obamacare) cannot ask you questions about firearms. This does not apply to regular doctors or if you are being evaluated if you a threat to yourself or others. 41-6105(h)

'Constitutional Carry' (permitless concealed carry)

Full constitutional carry (residents and non-residents) is now in effect.
All citizens after 7/01/20) may:

Carry a concealed handgun without obtaining a concealed weapon license anywhere in the state, including within city limits, as long as they can meet the requirements to obtain a concealed weapon license (license not required, but ensuring only law-abiding citizens are granted the exemption).
Anyone over 18 may carry a concealed weapon outside city limits as long as they could meet the requirements to obtain a concealed weapon license.
Anyone over 18 may obtain a concealed weapon license (not the enhanced license and may not be recognized by other states).

Federally Prohibited Places

Firearms, loaded or unloaded, concealed or openly carried, are prohibited in the following places

Inside federal facilities (including courthouses and offices like a Social Security office);
On military bases (military personnel should refer to DoD policy and post orders regarding storing personal weapons on base);
The Post Office property (includes the parking lot), but not post-office windows in stores (contract stations);
VA hospitals/facilities including federal veterans' cemeteries (carrying).

Firearms are banned in "a building or part thereof owned or leased by the Federal Government, where Federal employees are regularly present for the purpose of performing their official duties" and includes essentially all parts of federal court facilities (18 USC § 930). 'No weapons' signs must be posted at federal facilities in order for someone to be convicted (but you may be arrested).

Interstate Transportation Protection 18 USC § 926A
This section was intended to protect innocent passage of travelers who might have a firearm prohibited by local jurisdiction. For instance, a resident of a frontier state driving through California with an 'assault weapon' to another free state. The trip must be from one free state to another, the firearm unloaded, and neither the firearm nor any ammunition is readily accessible from the passenger compartment. In the case of a vehicle without a compartment separate from the driver’s compartment the firearm or ammunition shall be contained in a locked container other than the glove compartment or console.

Airports/Aircraft 49 CFR 1540.111 and 49 USC § 46505
Under federal law (local laws may differ), firearms are prohibited beyond the TSA checkpoints. You also cannot attempt to enter a TSA checkpoint while armed, even by mistake. Check your bags! Even loose ammunition, empty magazines, spent cases, and miscellaneous gun parts have caused problems and prosecutions for travelers. Learn more about the TSA regulations.

Military Bases
Self-defense firearms are generally prohibited on base. Almost uniformly, civilians may not possess firearms on base. Service-members may be required to store their weapons as their commanding officer directs. Check individual base and service branch regulations.

National Park
Section 512, Credit CARD Act of 2009 (and 54 USC § 104906) changed federal law to make park firearm regulations reflect state law. Typically, the only restrictions on firearm carry are state and local laws. If it is legal elsewhere in the state, it is legal in the park and sections that conflict with state law regarding carrying and possessing firearms (but not shooting bans) do not apply. So though on National Park Service lands (National Parks, Monuments, etc.) carrying a firearm or possessing loaded firearms are prohibited in vehicles (unless one has a special park permit, usually for hunting), this does not apply if the state allows open and/or concealed carry, or loaded/unloaded firearms in vehicles.

The park buildings (visitor centers, offices, etc.) are still federal facilities and off-limits to firearms. Discharge of firearms, except when lawfully hunting, is generally prohibited. Discharge of firearms, except when lawfully hunting, is generally prohibited. NPS pamphlet here. The same applies for National Wildlife Refuges, 16 USC § 1a–7b.

National Forest lands in Idaho have no ban on the carry of firearms. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) prohibits loaded firearms in the Wallace Forest.

Indian Reservations
Firearm carry on Indian reservations is a gray area. Some reservations in Idaho do permit concealed carry with a valid concealed firearm permit, however, it may vary. Tribes cannot enforce tribal law on non-tribal members, though they can enforce state and federal law. You may be trespassed from the reservation and have your firearm confiscated. One should contact individual reservation authorities for clarification of their regulations.

State Preemption of Local Laws

Generally, state agencies and local governments are prohibited from making their own firearm laws and regulations. This is a concept known as state preemption and intended to promote uniform laws throughout the state. No municipality (counties, cities) or other government agencies can make or enforce firearm laws, rules, or regulations except as specifically authorized by law (18-3302J).

The legislature finds that uniform laws regulating firearms are necessary to protect the individual citizen's right to bear arms guaranteed by amendment 2 of the United States Constitution and section 11, article I of the constitution of the state of Idaho. It is the legislature's intent to wholly occupy the field of firearms regulation within this state.

Except as expressly authorized by state statute, no county, city, agency, board or any other political subdivision of this state may adopt or enforce any law, rule, regulation, or ordinance which regulates in any manner the sale, acquisition, transfer, ownership, possession, transportation, carrying or storage of firearms or any element relating to firearms and components thereof, including ammunition.

Cities are given a narrow exemption to regulate unsafe discharge of firearms. 50-310
State park authorities can only regulate discharge of firearms. 67-4223

Who cannot possess a firearm?

State law makes it a felony for felons to possess firearms. 18-3316

Federal Prohibited Persons
The following are federally prohibited persons:

Anyone under indictment or information in any court for a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year; (felony case is in court--you've been arrested, but not yet convicted)
Anyone convicted of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year; (a felon)
A fugitive from justice;
An unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance; (including marijuana, medicinal or not)
Anyone adjudicated as a mental defective or has been committed to any mental institution;
An illegal alien;
Anyone discharged from the military under dishonorable conditions;
Anyone who has renounced his or her United States citizenship;
Anyone subject to a court order restraining the person from harassing, stalking, or threatening an intimate partner or child of the intimate partner;
Anyone convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence.

Minors

Minors cannot possess a firearm unless they have the written permission of their parent or guardian to possess the weapon or are accompanied by his parent or guardian while he has the weapon in their possession. 18-3302.

It is illegal for a minor to possess a handgun, a sawed-off rifle or sawed-off shotgun, or a fully automatic weapon. No one may provide a handgun to a minor. 18-3302F
Exemptions 18-3302G:

Patrons firing at lawfully operated target concessions at amusement parks and similar locations provided that the firearms to be used are firmly chained or affixed to the counters;
Any person in attendance at a hunter's safety course or a firearm's safety course;
Any person engaging in practice or any other lawful use of a firearm at an established range or any other area where the discharge of a firearm is not prohibited by state or local law;
Any person engaging in an organized competition involving the use of a firearm, or participating in or practicing for such competition;
Any minor under 18 years of age who is on real property with the permission of the owner or lessee;
Any hunter with a valid hunting license or other persons who are lawfully engaged in hunting; and
Any person traveling to or from any activity described when the handgun is unloaded.

Hunting
No person under the age of ten years shall have in his possession any shotgun, rifle or other firearm while in the fields or forests or in any tent, camp, auto or any other vehicle in the state of Idaho, except a licensed hunter if accompanied by an adult with a hunting license. 36-1508

Concealed Firearm Permit Reciprocity

Idaho has both standard and enhanced permits. Resident and non-residents permits are recognized differently from state to state.

All citations are Idaho Code (IC) unless otherwise noted.

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