Massachusetts, Idaho Face Divergent Gun Ballot Measures

Massachusetts voters face a firearm-registration deadline six days before the referendum on Question 9, asking whether to uphold a 2024 law that requires all firearms serialized and registered, bans ghost guns and rapid-fire devices, expands assault-style bans, and broadens red-flag petitioners. Gov. Maura Healey signed an emergency provision making the law take effect immediately in 2024. Massachusetts was the third jurisdiction after Hawaii and D.C. to enact a comprehensive gun registry. Toby Leary announced outside the Massachusetts Statehouse on Oct. 8, 2024, that activists collected enough signatures for the repeal. He called the timing "a total violation of people's rights" and a registry "a wish list for nefarious actors," saying "The criminal element will know exactly who has what, where they live." Ruth Zakarin said "This legislation both preserves a legal pathway to gun ownership while also putting guardrails in place that keep people safe." Lindsay Nichols said the laws "help law enforcement solve crimes, track down stolen and trafficked guns." Idaho's Republican-led Legislature placed a nonbinding question on six historic firearms for state gun, including the M1 Garand and Browning M1911. Neill Goodfellow, parked in his truck en route to an elk hunt, said "none of them really have a significant place in the history of Idaho."