Guns are on the ballot in 4 states

This story was originally published by The Trace, a nonprofit newsroom covering gun violence in America. Sign up for its newsletters here.

In June 2024, Massachusetts Democratic Gov. Maura Healey signed into law House Bill 4885, which regulates unserialized “ghost guns,” expanded the state’s red flag law and banned machine gun conversion devices. Now, more than two years later, voters will decide whether to keep the law or scuttle it when they go to the polls next week. 

The initiative is one of four on ballots across the country this midterm cycle that seek to expand gun rights. There are none that seek to strengthen gun laws. 

Historically, gun violence prevention advocates have used ballot initiatives as a tool to put reforms directly in front of voters. And it’s worked. In 2014, voters in Washington state passed a universal background check measure, and in 2018 they voted to raise the age to legally own semiautomatic rifles, impose a waiting period on their purchase, and implement penalties for unsafe gun storage. In 2016, Nevada voters approved a universal background check initiative; that same year, California voters approved ammunition background checks and a large-capacity magazine ban.

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But in recent years, gun reform initiatives are few and far between. None made it to the ballot in 2024, though several were proposed. In 2022, Oregon voters narrowly passed a measure that would require permits and training to purchase guns, but it’s tied up in court and hasn’t been implemented. And in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic hampered signature-gathering efforts.

Today, it’s gun rights advocates who are pushing several initiatives this cycle that seek to reverse gun violence prevention gains and expand gun access.

Massachusetts

Voters in Massachusetts will decide whether to keep sweeping 2024 gun-related legislation that required untraceable ghost guns to be registered, banned machine gun conversion devices, called switches, and prohibited guns in certain public spaces, including polling places, government buildings, and school transport vehicles. 

The bill also expanded the state’s red flag law to allow police, health care providers, and school personnel to petition a court to remove someone’s guns; before, only family members and the gun licensing authority could. A “yes” vote on Question 9 will keep the 2024 legislation, and a “no” vote would repeal it. 

The effort to repeal the 2024 law is led by a group called the Civil Rights Coalition, which bills itself as “a nonpartisan, grassroots movement.” Toby Leary, a shooting instructor and gun store owner in Hyannis, heads the group. Leary argued at a recent debate that Massachusetts has enough gun laws and the legislature doesn’t have the authority to erode a constitutional right.

Leary and his group portray the effort as a local one, but it has national gun lobby money behind it. The effort can be traced back to the Gun Owners’ Action League, a state-level gun group, which touts its connection to Question 9 on its website. The National Shooting Sports Foundation, the firearm industry’s trade group, gave GOAL $100,000 to fund a legal challenge to the 2024 law.

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At first glance, the measure appears likely to fail. Massachusetts is overwhelmingly liberal — Democrats have a legislative trifecta in the state House, with a Democratic governor and a veto-proof majority in the legislature. The state has the lowest rate of gun death in the country, according to the latest figures from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and gun violence prevention advocates credit the state with some of the country’s strongest gun laws. A recent poll from UMass Amherst and WCVB found that 70% of voters support upholding the law, while 21% want to repeal it. 

But gun violence prevention advocates aren’t taking anything for granted. Ruth Zakarin, who heads the Massachusetts Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence and chairs the group opposing the initiative, said the gun lobby is eager to chip away at laws in deep-blue states. “We’ve heard them say over and over again that if they feel successful in Massachusetts, they plan to take this on the road, to other states with strong gun laws,” she said. “So, this has implications not just for Massachusetts, but nationally.”

The state is also “not immune to this rightward tilt that we’re seeing throughout the country,” she said, pointing to conservative pockets throughout the state. Massachusetts also had a Republican governor from 2015 to 2023. “We are seeing a small but very loud group of people hollering about this question in particular,” Zakarin said. “And they were able to collect enough signatures to get this question on the ballot” — at least 87,000. 

Arkansas

Arkansas voters will consider “Issue 2, Right to Keep and Bear Arms Amendment,” which would amend the state constitution to “provide a right to possess and use ammunition, firearm accessories, and firearm components without limitation.” It would also add language that the right to keep and bear arms is “a natural, fundamental, and individual right that shall not be infringed.”

Lawmakers put forward the initiative. Republican state Rep. Matt Duffield proposed the measure in April 2025 with an eight-minute speech in support of the right to bear arms, which he called “a citizen’s last line of defense against tyranny” and “part of our nation’s DNA.” 

Forty-five states explicitly establish the right to keep and bear arms in their state constitutions. That includes Arkansas, which passed its state-level Second Amendment in 1868. The proposed initiative, if approved, would augment the 1868 amendment. If the initiative is defeated, the 158-year-old language would remain as-is. Pollsters expect the initiative to pass overwhelmingly.

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Gun violence prevention advocates testified at the General Assembly last year that the “without limitation” part of the proposed initiative could be used to challenge state laws prohibiting felons and domestic abusers from owning guns. 

Idaho

Idaho voters will be able to choose a state gun, similar to how states have state symbols like birds, flowers, fish and so on. 

In 2011, Utah became the first state to designate a state gun: the Browning model M1911 semiautomatic pistol. Since then, 10 other states have followed suit: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Indiana, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Tennessee, Texas and Missouri.

The Idaho Official State Gun Question, sponsored by the state legislature, will give voters six options, which include four rifles and two handguns. No word on which model is in the lead. The state legislature will need to approve the winner in a separate law after the election.

Colorado

Colorado’s citizen-led initiative isn’t explicitly about guns, but involves them regardless: Amendment 83 would amend the state constitution to establish a right to hunt and fish. It requires 55% of votes to pass. The measure is backed by wildlife and conservation groups, most of them from out of state. Independence Institute, which calls itself “a leading voice for 2nd Amendment rights in Colorado,” is advocating the measure. Animal welfare groups oppose the measure.

Colorado law already protects the right to hunt, but a constitutional amendment would protect it from the whims of legislators. Some legal experts argue that the language in the amendment could open up the state to litigation, putting judges in charge of wildlife management decisions that should be left to biologists and the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission.

Twenty-four states have constitutional provisions providing for the right to hunt and fish, according to Ballotpedia. Vermont was the first to pass one, in 1777; the rest have been passed since 1996.