Massachusetts Voters Allow Restrictive Gun Law To Remain In Place

Massachusetts voters allowed a restrictive gun-control law to remain in place by a nearly 35-point margin Tuesday as part of a Democratic midterm sweep.

Pro-Second Amendment activists, such as the Gun Owners’ Action League (GOAL), previously secured nearly 100,000 signatures to put a referendum on the 2026 Massachusetts ballot to ask if Bay State voters supported H.4885, a gun-control law passed in 2024. With 85% of the ballots counted, 67.2% of voters opted to keep the statute in place, according to election totals posted by The New York Times.

After the Supreme Court struck down New York’s discretionary system for issuing concealed carry permits in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen in June 2022, Massachusetts began the process of altering its gun laws to comply with the high court’s decision. Like other states who had “may issue” systems for issuing permits similar to New York’s, however, Massachusetts’s lawmakers seized the opportunity to enact additional restrictions on law-abiding gun owners.

Lawmakers added provisions in the legislation that further restrict modern semiautomatics, imposing registration criteria that targeted certain muzzleloaders, added new license requirements