A Nine-Year-Old Started It All, and the Rest of the Gem State Ran With It
Not many legislative wins at the state capitol can be traced back to a fourth grader's homemade newspaper poll, but Idaho isn't most states. Earlier this month, Governor Brad Little put pen to paper and made hunting the official state sport of Idaho — and the whole thing started with a nine-year-old girl from Twin Falls who runs her own publication.
Betty Grandy, who is homeschooled, publishes what she calls The Grandy Gazette. In a recent issue, she ran a poll asking readers to pick their favorite pastime from three options: fishing, rafting, or hunting. The results weren't close. Hunting won by a wide margin, and Grandy took that mandate seriously enough that state lawmakers eventually did too. She was standing right next to Governor Little when he signed the bill into law on April 6th.
When asked to explain why hunting qualifies as a sport, Grandy didn't overthink it. "It's a sport not because you hit a ball or anything," she told KTVB-7. "It's a sport because you get out there and have fun. You can enjoy it and it gets your body moving, and that's how it's a sport." Hard to argue with that.
Idaho Was Already Built for This
The official designation might be new, but Idaho's relationship with hunting is anything but. The state consistently ranks among the highest in the country when it comes to hunter participation rates. Millions of acres of public land, elk herds that draw serious hunters from across the country, and a culture that treats time in the field as something close to sacred — Idaho didn't need a law to prove its hunting credentials. But having it on the books doesn't hurt.
What makes the signing ceremony stand out is how it got there. No lobbying groups. No decades-long legislative push. A kid asked her readers a question, counted the answers, and followed through. State officials moved forward without spending much time worrying about the Grandy Gazette's circulation numbers or sample size.
Now the State Wants a Gun to Match
Idaho didn't stop at a state sport. The same legislative session that produced the hunting designation also produced House Bill 932, a measure that will put the question of a state gun to voters this November. Governor Little signed that bill into law on a Thursday, setting up what is shaping up to be one of the more interesting ballot questions Idaho residents have seen in a while.
The bill's language leans into history to make its case. It points to the role firearms played in American independence, citing citizen militias armed with long rifles during the Revolutionary War. It also pulls from Idaho's own past, specifically the journey of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, who passed through Idaho's wilderness between 1805 and 1806. According to the bill, those explorers "depended on rifles for survival while crossing Idaho's wilderness, hunting game and protecting against dangers." In that context, picking a state gun isn't just a political gesture — it's a nod to the 250th anniversary of the country and the tools that helped build it.
Six Guns, One Vote
Come November, Idaho voters will be asked to choose from a list of six firearms, each one carrying its own chapter of American history:
- Winchester Model 1894 in .30-30
- Winchester Model 1873 in .44-40
- 1873 Colt "Peacemaker" in .45 Colt
- M1 Garand rifle in .30-06
- Colt M1911 in .45 ACP
- Remington Model 700 bolt-action in .30-06
The list covers a serious stretch of American gun history. The Winchester 1873 is often called "The Gun That Won the West" — it was everywhere during westward expansion and became one of the most recognized lever-action rifles ever made. Its descendant, the 1894, became the best-selling sporting rifle in America and spent decades as the go-to deer rifle across the country.
The 1873 Colt Peacemaker is about as iconic as handguns get. It was standard issue for the U.S. Army in the post-Civil War era and became the defining sidearm of the frontier period. The M1 Garand tells a different story — General George Patton once called it "the greatest battle implement ever devised," and it helped carry American forces through World War II. The Colt M1911, also a wartime workhorse, spent the better part of a century as the standard sidearm of the U.S. military. And the Remington Model 700, introduced in 1962, went on to become one of the most widely used bolt-action rifles in American hunting and military history.
Each of those six options has real bones to it. Voters won't be picking between novelties.
Don't See Your Favorite? There's Still Time
Idaho Rep. Jason Monks addressed the obvious concern during recorded session testimony, acknowledging that not every gun lover is going to find their preferred firearm on the current list. "Just to put some people's minds at ease, the legislative council could add an additional choice there," Monks said, according to the Idaho Statesman. "If you're not seeing your favorite gun on the list of items here, I would recommend you get with a member of legislative council and petition them to add something to that [list.]"
That's a reasonable out. The ballot measure isn't finalized yet, and there's a process in place for Idahoans who feel strongly that a different make or model deserves consideration.
Idaho Joins a Small but Growing Club
Ten states already have an official state gun on the books, according to the NRA. Utah went with the Browning M1911 Pistol, which ties neatly into the state's strong connection to firearm manufacturer John Browning, who was born in Ogden. Utah's official state sports are skiing and snowboarding, which cover a different side of the outdoor identity entirely.
Texas designated the 1847 Colt Walker as its state gun back in 2021, a fitting choice given the weapon's deep ties to Texas Ranger history. Texas has had rodeo as its official state sport since 1997 — a designation that, like Idaho's hunting designation, reflects something genuine about the place rather than something manufactured for appearances.
What It Actually Means
Critics of these kinds of designations sometimes argue they're symbolic at best and a waste of legislative time at worst. But for states like Idaho, where outdoor culture isn't a lifestyle brand — it's just life — these things carry actual weight. Hunting isn't something Idahoans added to their identity recently. It's been woven into the fabric of the state since before statehood.
Putting a name to that, making it official, and then going one step further by asking voters to weigh in on which firearm best represents the state's history — that's not grandstanding. It's a state being straightforward about what it values and where it comes from.
The November ballot measure will be one to watch, both for which gun ultimately wins and for how engaged voters are with the question. Idaho has never been shy about its gun culture, and given that this process started with a nine-year-old's newspaper poll going all the way to the governor's desk, it's clear the state isn't about to start being shy now.
