Parked in his truck along a rural Idaho highway on his way to an elk hunt, Neill Goodfellow pondered a question that will appear on his November ballot: which of six historic firearms to choose as the official state gun?
Goodfellow is going to vote for the M1 Garand, a semiautomatic rifle widely carried by U.S. troops in World War II.
asserted
Goodfellow → park → II
In Massachusetts, voters are deciding a vastly different ballot question — whether to uphold a 2024 law requiring all firearms to be serialized and registered with the state and broadening a ban on “assault-style” guns.
asserted
voters → decide → guns
The November election won’t settle the tension between firearm freedoms and restrictions, but the ballot questions will provide a gauge of public opinion.
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questions → settle → opinion
Should voters approve it, Massachusetts Question 9 will continue an array of gun restrictions passed overwhelmingly by the Democratic-led Legislature in a state with one of the nation’s lowest gun ownership rates.
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Question → approve → rates
The question is going to voters because opponents gathered petition signatures forcing a referendum.
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opponents → go → referendum
In Boise, the Republican-led Legislature placed a nonbinding question on the ballot seeking voters’ advice on designating “the state gun of Idaho.”
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Legislature → lead → Idaho
About 3 in 5 Idaho adults live in households with guns, which ranks among the highest rates nationally, according to an estimate from the RAND Gun Policy in America initiative.
uncertain
which → live → initiative
Some Republican lawmakers hope the ballot question will encourage more people to vote.
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question → hope → people
Massachusetts gun owners face a registry deadline
Residents in Massachusetts face a Wednesday deadline to register their firearms with the state.
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Residents → face → state
The referendum on whether to repeal that requirement happens six days later.
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referendum → repeal → requirement
That sequence has frustrated some gun owners.
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sequence → frustrate → owners
“It’s a total violation of people’s rights to require this before they have their chance to vote on it,” said Toby Leary, chair of The Civil Rights Coalition, a group formed to lead the effort to repeal the gun law.
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Leary → ’ → law
Normally, when a referendum petition is submitted, a law is placed on hold until an election can occur.
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election → submit → hold
But Democratic Gov. Maura Healey signed an emergency provision making the gun law take effect immediately in 2024 — two years ahead of the referendum.
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law → sign → referendum
Advocates tout the measure as the most comprehensive update in a decade to the state’s firearms laws.
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Advocates → tout → laws
In addition to establishing a state firearm registry, it bars “ghost guns” that lack serial numbers and devices that convert guns to fire rapidly, and expands a ban on assault-style weapons.
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that → establish → weapons
It also broadens a “red flag” law to add healthcare providers and school administrators to the list of those who can ask courts to temporarily remove guns from people who pose a risk to themselves or others.
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who → broaden → themselves
“This legislation both preserves a legal pathway to gun ownership while also putting guardrails in place that keep people safe,” said Ruth Zakarin, who chairs the campaign committee backing the gun law and is CEO of the Massachusetts Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence.
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who → preserve → Violence
Few states have wide-ranging gun registries
A 40-year-old federal law prohibits the U.S. government from establishing a national registry of firearms or their owners.
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law → have → firearms
But some states have adopted their own requirements.
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states → adopt → requirements
Massachusetts was the third jurisdiction, behind Hawaii and the District of Columbia, to enact a comprehensive gun registry.
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Massachusetts → enact → registry
Six additional states require registration of some firearms, such as handguns or those defined as assault weapons, according to the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence.
uncertain
states → require → Violence
“These laws help law enforcement solve crimes, track down stolen and trafficked guns,” said Lindsay Nichols, the center’s policy director.
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Nichols → help → guns
“They also discourage illegal gun sales, and they help protect law enforcement by providing them information about what guns might be present when they are responding to an incident.”
uncertain
they → discourage → incident
But creating a government database of gun owners also could put people at risk, if the information is hacked and leaked, Leary said.
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Leary → create → risk
Thieves possessing the addresses of gun owners could monitor their homes, waiting for them to leave for work or vacation to rob them of their firearms, he said.
uncertain
he → possess → firearms
“The criminal element will know exactly who has what, where they live,” he said.
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he → know → what
“It’s a wish list for nefarious actors for where they can go get guns.”
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they → ’ → guns
About a dozen states have official firearms
Utah and Arizona were the first states, in 2011, to adopt official state firearms.
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Utah → have → firearms
Utah lawmakers chose the Browning M1911 pistol, which was designed by a Utah native.
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which → choose → native
Arizona lawmakers picked the Colt single-action Army revolver, described by the National Rifle Association as “an iconic firearm of the American West.”
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lawmakers → pick → West
Of the six options presented to Idaho voters, “none of them really have a significant place in the history of Idaho,” said Goodfellow, a board member of the Idaho State Rifle & Pistol Association.
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Goodfellow → present → Association
“My suspicion is a lot of folks are not going to have a clue” which one to choose, he said.
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he → go → one
Yet for some people, the gun vote is a fun topic to debate.
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vote → debate → people
That’s primarily the point, said Idaho House Majority Leader Jason Monks, a Republican who sponsored the measure as a means of driving up voter turnout during the midterm elections.
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who → ’ → elections
It’s timed intentionally to coincide with the nation’s 250th anniversary.
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It → time → anniversary
“There’s not much more patriotic in Idaho than guns — and the importance of guns in helping to found our country and settle the West,” Monks said.
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Monks → ’ → West
If the election results in a clear winner, Idaho lawmakers likely will take up a bill during their 2027 session to make the preferred firearm official.
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firearm → take → session
If the results are evenly split, well, that might be too controversial for lawmakers to settle, Monks said.
uncertain
Monks → split → ?
The Aporia
