“THE RESOLUTION PASSED!!!” the Idaho Tribune exclaimed Saturday on X, referring to a post from two days before that reporting, “The @IdahoGOP is set to vote on a resolution calling for a full posthumous pardon of Randy Weaver AND the prosecution of FBI sniper Lon Horiuchi for murder!”
“Resolution 2026-23 calls for a posthumous pardon of Randy Weaver and for murder charges to be brought against Lon Horiuchi, the FBI sniper who shot and killed Vicki Weaver during the Ruby Ridge standoff in 1992,” Gem State Chronicle notes in its Jan. 10 report on the Idaho GOP State Central Committee’s “Winter Meeting 2026.”
Recounting how Weaver was set upon by federal agents on a firearms charge, and the family dog, his son, and wife holding a baby were shot to death in a resulting attack and siege where special rules of engagement authorized deadly force, the resolution, which is being forwarded to the prosecutor, the president, and the U.S. attorney general:
[C]alls upon Boundary County Prosecutor Andrakay Pluid to bring charges of murder against Lon Horiuchi [and] calls on President Donald Trump to issue a full posthumous pardon to Randy Weaver for the “failure to appear” conviction.
It’s good that some in the party don’t want to let this be forgotten, but there’s more that can be done.
First off, the pardon should also be accompanied with official recognition that the warrant issued against Weaver to appear was invalid. Per a 1993 Seattle Times report, “A court clerk testified he advised U.S. District Judge Harold Ryan that Weaver was given the wrong court date, before Ryan issued a warrant for Weaver’s failure to appear.”
In a Republic that actually protected the Second Amendment, the charges of sawing off shotgun barrels below an arbitrary length would also be adjudicated as unconstitutional infringements, and government employing provocateurs to set citizens up for exercising their rights would not be tolerated.
But the real challenge here will be motivating the Boundary County Prosecutor to take meaningful action on renewed charges against Horouchi (and it’s also fair to wonder on which side the Justice Department would land, with recent actions suggesting it would defend federal law enforcement).
A significant aspect of the story that received virtually no press coverage outside of the Second Amendment advocacy community is why initial manslaughter charges against Horiuchi were dropped. The prosecutor “gave no reasons” at the time of his announcement, and with that, the “mainstream” press called it a day.
It took angry protests by Second Amendment activists to prompt an excuse.
“The Prosecutor’s Office has made the determination based upon all the circumstances surrounding this case that success at a criminal trial with the highest burden of proof, would not occur,” the Boundary County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office informed KeepAndBearArms.com via email . “It is our hope that this decision will not breed further conflict, but will begin the healing process so long deserved.” Three responses included at that link said they weren’t buying it.
It was subsequently revealed that “Boundary County Commissioners launched an investigation into the alleged criminal misconduct of Boundary County Prosecutor … allegedly committed two counts of felony activity, including forgery and falsifying documents, according to an anonymous source.”
“It shows the prosecutor definitely vulnerable to being compromised, and the people from the beltway have the resources, the know-how, and the historical predisposition to do just that,” this correspondent noted at the time. As the upshot of the investigation was evidently (no news reports were found, so this information comes from Google AI) his resignation along with a plea bargain to reduce felony charges to misdemeanors, that’s an investigation that needs to happen.
As a resolution, the request to prosecute to an office that already said “No,” and has its own interests to protect, has no teeth. Whether legislative pressure will be exerted is unknown at this writing, as is the appetite of anyone in state government for new hearings.
One thing that might reopen that door would be for the Idaho GOP to prepare a Public Records Act request for records from the Boundary County Prosecutor and a simultaneous Freedom of Information Act request for records from the Department of Justice to determine what relevant communications/correspondence were being shared between the two, and to determine if either balks at being forthcoming with information.
The Idaho GOP Resolution is below:
About David Codrea:
David Codrea is the winner of multiple journalist awards for investigating/defending the RKBA and a long-time gun owner rights advocate who defiantly challenges the folly of citizen disarmament. He blogs at “The War on Guns: Notes from the Resistance,” is a regularly featured contributor to Firearms News, and posts on Twitter: @dcodrea and Facebook.
