Minimum Age to Purchase/Possess
Idaho prohibits any person, firm, association or corporation from selling or giving any minor under the age of 16 any shells or fixed ammunition of any kind, except shells loaded for use in shotguns or for use in rifles of 22 caliber or smaller without the written consent of the parents or guardian of the minor.1
However, federal law prohibits firearms dealers from selling or delivering ammunition for a shotgun or rifle to any person the dealer knows or has reasonable cause to believe is under the age of 18, and from selling or delivering handgun ammunition to any person the dealer knows or has reasonable cause to believe is under the age of 21.2 Federal law prohibits unlicensed persons generally from selling, delivering or otherwise transferring handgun ammunition to any person the transferor knows or has reasonable cause to believe is under the age of 18.3 Federal law also generally prohibits the possession of handgun ammunition by anyone under the age of 18.4
Safe Storage of Ammunition
A state administrative regulation requires house parents at a children’s residential care facility to store any ammunition under lock and key separate from firearms and inaccessible to children.5
Idaho does not:
- Require a license for the sale of ammunition;
- Require sellers of ammunition to maintain a record of the purchasers;
- Require a license to purchase or possess ammunition; or
- Prohibit the possession, transfer or use of armor-piercing or other unreasonably dangerous ammunition, although the federal prohibition on certain kinds of armor-piercing ammunition applies.
For additional information on the regulation of minors in Idaho, see the Idaho Minimum Age to Purchase / Possess and Idaho Trafficking sections.
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