When Massachusetts leaders overhauled the state’s gun laws in July, state Representative Michael Day issued a challenge to pro-gun groups threatening opposition: “Bring it on.”
And so they have.
The new gun law already faces two legal challenges, with promises of more to come. One lawsuit pushed lawmakers to delay a new license requirement from going into effect after it caused confusion. And more than 90,000 people signed petitions for a 2026 ballot question to repeal it, per the group organizing the efforts, far exceeding the roughly 39,000 needed.
“I thought it was rushed through and there were mistakes made. . . . They tried to put too many things together,” said Bob Antia, 64, a gun owner from Lincoln who signed a petition in support of the 2026 ballot challenge.
Governor Maura Healey and other Democrats championed aspects of the new law that they say will reduce gun violence, including a ban on ghost guns and updated so-called red flag laws. Pro-gun groups and residents, however, raised concerns about elements that redefined “assault-style” firearms, expanding what is banned in the state, as well as new licensing and training requirements for aspiring gun owners.
Lawmakers had passed the measure to bolster the state’s already strict gun control regime after a Supreme Court decision curtailed the government’s power to regulate guns. Second Amendment defenders contend the new law unfairly penalizes lawful gun carriers.
It is too soon to say if Healey and other Democrats who support the law will face electoral consequences; many Massachusetts voters support their aim of reducing gun violence. But that hasn’t stopped residents across the political spectrum from voicing opposition in courts and through grass-roots activism, showing that fights over gun regulation can still erupt in liberal-leaning states.
Antia said that under the new law, he can no longer sell some firearms he owns in Massachusetts. He worries it will put friends who own gun stores out of business. “A lot of people I know support ways of keeping our children and fellow citizens in the Commonwealth safe,” but new restrictions don’t serve that goal, he said.
Earlier this month, Healey signed an emergency preamble enacting the law three weeks before it was to take effect. The procedural move blocked the efforts of gun rights activists who were scrambling to gather the necessary signatures to suspend it until voters weighed in in 2026.
The state Republican Party and Second Amendment groups criticized Healey’s move as undemocratic, noting it came months after the law passed and just before the referendum’s signature-gathering deadline. So did left-leaning gun owners.
“I’ve got a whole bunch of people who would nominally be staunch Democrats wondering who they’re going to vote for at the state level, or if they’re even going to vote at all,” said Ed Gardner, executive director of the Liberal Gun Club, which he estimated has about 300 Massachusetts members. “It certainly put a damper on any political enthusiasm anybody might have for these politicians.”
The governor’s office said Healey delayed signing the preamble to allow local government and state agencies time to implement changes.
“This gun safety law went through the democratic process, was passed by the Legislature, and signed by the governor,” said Karissa Hand, a Healey spokesperson. “Governor Healey believed it was important that this law went into effect as soon as possible.”
Massachusetts lawmakers revamped firearm laws after the Supreme Court’s 2022 New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen decision deemed some existing rules unconstitutional under the Second Amendment.
The Gun Owners Action League, the National Rifle Association’s affiliate here, sued over changes to licensing and training requirements that spurred confusion because it was unclear whether any existing trainings included a new live-fire course required for gun license applicants. Last month, legislators used a budget bill to postpone that requirement until 18 months after the gun law took effect, or April 2026.
Gino Recchia III, owner of Mass Armament, a gun store in Bellingham, filed another lawsuit saying the law’s rules on assault-style firearms violated the Second Amendment. In his lawsuit, Recchia estimated his shop would lose 70 percent of its business. He said he had to “clean out literally thousands of dollars worth of inventory . . . I can’t sell to the public.”
“A lot of people are confused and frustrated by it because we were already one of the most restrictive states — we already had to source things specifically to be qualified — and all of sudden, that’s not good enough,” he said.
Toby Leary, owner of Cape Gun Works gun shop and an organizer of the ballot initiative, said the effort has raised more than $100,000 and mobilized hundreds of volunteers. The group plans to launch an information campaign with the pitch that their cause extends beyond the Second Amendment.
“If the House and the Senate can get a majority for any other right and vote it away, would you stand for that?” he said. “That’s really what the message is going to be — returning power back to the people.”
Day, the Stoneham Democrat who crafted the gun legislation, said its critics “mischaracterized or ignored the two-year process of public engagement and debate that went into it” and used “inflammatory and inaccurate rhetoric to try to get attention.” Groups such as the Gun Owners Action League that met with Day accused him of ignoring their feedback.
“Just because an overwhelming majority of legislators do not agree with an argument does not mean we did not hear and consider that argument. It just means the argument was not persuasive,” Day said in a statement.
Cody Jacobs, a Boston University law professor, said the gun law appears to legally comply with the Supreme Court’s recent decisions and is similar to other states with strict gun control rules.
He’s not surprised opponents are fighting it. “They’re going to throw everything against the wall and see what sticks, because a lot sticks with these courts. They’re trying to use this divide-and-conquer approach to wear down the state’s resources defending these gun laws,” Jacobs said.
Massachusetts Republicans have helped the ballot referendum effort, registering voters in the process. Amy Carnevale, the state GOP chair, said that gun restrictions are “miscast” in Massachusetts, and that the party intends to campaign in support of removing the law, if it’s placed on the ballot, by arguing it was unnecessary, pointing to Massachusetts’ low gun violence rates.
Some concerns came from left-leaning gun owners. Dana, a Medford gun owner who asked that her last name not be used, voted for Healey in 2022 but would consider backing a third-party candidate — though not a Republican — if Healey ran again. Dana described nearby firearms stores as “madhouses,” as enthusiasts like herself rushed to purchase components before the law took effect.
She and other gun owners, however, said they doubt politicians would face electoral consequences in left-leaning Massachusetts, as gun violence remains a priority for liberal voters.
A 2023 survey commissioned by Everytown for Gun Safety found 68 percent of Massachusetts respondents were more likely to support a candidate “who support strengthening gun safety laws.” Roughly 58 percent of Massachusetts voters approved of Healey’s job as governor in an October Suffolk University and Globe poll.
Nonetheless, gun control advocates say they’re preparing to fight to keep the law. Rob Stegman, a board member for the Massachusetts Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence, which fought for the law, pointed to recent fatal shootings in Massachusetts as evidence the new restrictions were necessary.
“I don’t think we can stop all gun violence or save every life, but these are smart measures, and the sooner they’re enforced and in place, the better,” Stegman said.
Anjali Huynh can be reached at anjali.huynh@globe.com.