Gun Ballot Measures: What Your Vote Does in Four States

Gun ballot measures are on the November 3, 2026 ballot in four states (Arkansas, Colorado, Massachusetts and Idaho), and no two work alike.

Originally published: October 21, 2026

Four gun ballot measures go to statewide voters on November 3, 2026: Arkansas Issue 2 rewrites the state’s right to keep and bear arms, Colorado Amendment 83 would add a right to hunt and fish, Massachusetts Question 9 decides whether the 2024 gun law stays, and Idaho holds an advisory vote on a state gun. A ballot measure is a question on the statewide ballot that lets voters approve or reject a change in state law (Idaho’s is advisory only). None of this is legal advice, so read the official wording on your own ballot, especially in Massachusetts, where a YES vote KEEPS the gun law.

Idaho is asking voters to pick an official state gun, which may be the most Idaho sentence ever typed. That one is for bragging rights. The other three decide what the law says about your guns, your ammo or your hunting.

Which States Have Gun Ballot Measures?

Find your state’s row, then read its section below for the exact ballot wording.

Each row comes from the state’s own election notice, voter guide or certified list, linked in the last column. Arkansas voters mark FOR or AGAINST rather than yes or no.

The bar to pass differs, too. Colorado needs 55 percent because Amendment 83 adds language to the constitution, Arkansas and Massachusetts need a simple majority (more than 50 percent of the votes on the question), and Idaho’s advisory question has no pass-fail line.

Hunting suppressed? Check your state first.Whether you can own one and hunt with one, all fifty states and DC, with the law behind each.Suppressor laws by state →popularsuppressors.com

What Would Arkansas Issue 2 Do?

Arkansas Issue 2 is a constitutional amendment the 95th General Assembly sent to voters, filed by Senator J. Payton as SJR 11 in the 2025 regular session. The Senate adopted it 28 to 7 on April 10, 2025, and the House followed 86 to 10 on April 15, 2025.

Article 2, Section 5 gives the citizens of Arkansas “the right to keep and bear arms, for their common defense.” Issue 2 adds “lawful hunting and recreational use” and “any other lawful purpose,” says the right “includes without limitation the possession and use of” ammunition, firearm accessories and firearm components, and calls it “a natural, fundamental, and individual right that shall not be infringed.”

As someone who carries a firearm professionally, I can tell you the words that matter most there are “accessories” and “components.” Look at what Massachusetts went after in 2024: unfinished frames, trigger cranks and suppressor parts. Arkansas would name those categories in its constitution (the parts and add-ons, not just whole guns), and I like that approach.

If approved, it takes effect January 1, 2027, under its own effective-date section. It repeals no statute and creates no crime; it changes the wording a court reads when someone challenges an Arkansas gun law. It needs a majority of the votes cast on it, and our Arkansas gun laws page covers carry there in the meantime.

Colorado Amendment 83: A Right to Hunt and Fish

If you hunt or fish Colorado, even as a nonresident, this is the one to watch. Amendment 83 began as citizen Initiative #302, and its ballot title asks whether to create “a constitutional right to hunt, fish, and harvest fish and wildlife by traditional methods” for every species the state manages except nongame species, endangered species and any species illegal to hunt under federal law.

It adds Section 13 to Article XVIII of the state constitution, names hunting and fishing “the preferred means of responsibly managing fish and wildlife populations,” and leaves trespass law alone. The state can still regulate when a rule is necessary for sound scientific wildlife conservation and management, public safety or future hunting and fishing opportunities. The text does not define “traditional methods” (expect lawyers on both sides to argue about that one).

Remember, it needs 55 percent, and if it passes it takes effect when the governor proclaims the vote, no later than 30 days after the canvass (Colo. Const. art. V, § 1(4)). The state’s Blue Book says it “results in no immediate change to existing state law or regulations,” so seasons, licenses and bag limits stay put; the change could come later, in new rules and court rulings.

Packing a handgun for the elk trip? Run the route through our Can I Carry There? trip planner and check our Colorado gun laws page first.

Massachusetts Question 9: Why YES Keeps the Law

Read this one twice, because the wording runs backward. Question 9 is a “Referendum on an Existing Law,” titled “Firearms Regulation” in the official voter guide: “A YES VOTE would keep in place the law, which increases the regulation of firearms, including ghost guns, machine guns, and assault-style weapons.” And “A NO VOTE would repeal this law.”

The law is Chapter 135 of the Acts of 2024, “An Act Modernizing Firearm Laws” (House bill 4885), passed July 18, 2024, by 124 to 33 in the House and 35 to 5 in the Senate. The state’s Executive Office of Public Safety and Security says it took effect October 2, 2024.

So what is in it? The Attorney General’s summary lists “ghost gun” penalties, serial numbers on every firearm except antiques and relics, a minimum age of 21 to own semiautomatic rifles or shotguns, and bump stocks, trigger cranks, Glock switches and auto sears added to the machine gun definition. It also “prohibits the carrying of firearms in government buildings, polling locations, and schools, with certain exceptions.”

Here is the fine print. Under the state constitution (Mass. Const. amend. art. XLVIII, The Referendum, III, § 4), a NO majority repeals a law already in effect 30 days after the election, but no law counts as rejected if the NO votes are less than 30 percent of all ballots cast. The voter guide does not say which pre-2024 rules would return, so do not assume a NO vote rolls everything back to 2023.

Question 9 is not a suppressor vote, either. Massachusetts banned civilian possession of suppressors before 2024 (Mass. Gen. Laws c. 269, § 10A), and the 2024 law only stretched that ban to the parts; Popular Suppressors tracks where civilians can own a suppressor, state by state.

The voter guide’s YES argument, from Vote Yes for a Safe Massachusetts, calls it a “lifesaving 2024 gun safety law”; the NO argument, from The Civil Rights Coalition, calls it “a deeply flawed, 116-page piece of bureaucratic overreach.” If you want it gone, vote NO and bring your neighbors, because NO has to clear that 30 percent floor too. Our Massachusetts gun laws page covers licensing and carry as the law stands.

Idaho’s State Gun Vote

House Bill 932 puts one question on the ballot: “Which of the following guns should be designated as the state gun of Idaho? Please choose only one answer.” It passed the House 68 to 0 and the Senate 32 to 0, and the governor signed it April 2, 2026, with findings tied to the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

Well, here is the catch. The Secretary of State calls it “a non-binding measure, and the Legislature would have to take action during a future legislative session to officially designate a gun as the Idaho State Gun.” So nobody’s rifle becomes official on November 4.

Gun names are shortened from the ballot wording; descriptions are condensed from the Idaho Secretary of State’s voter page, in ballot order.

So, Garand or 1911? Two of the six are chambered in .30-06, which tells you something about Idaho, and the gun counters will argue about the winner until the Legislature settles it (and probably long after). Our Idaho gun laws page covers carry there.

Are There Other Gun Ballot Measures?

None that I could find. Ballotpedia’s 2026 topic lists for firearms and for hunting and fishing name only the Arkansas, Massachusetts and Colorado measures (Idaho’s is filed under state symbols). Missouri’s certified list (Amendments 3, 6, 7 and 8 and Proposition A) and Arizona’s eight propositions (141 through 320) carry no gun measure, going by their official titles.

When Do We Get Results?

Nothing is official on election night. Each state counts on its own legal clock:

Deadlines come from the Arkansas and Colorado 2026 election calendars, Mass. Gen. Laws c. 54, §§ 112 and 115, and Idaho Code §§ 34-1205 and 34-1211. A recount can push any of them later.

I will add each result here as the states post them, and any change that becomes law goes on our carry law updates log.

Frequently Asked Questions

What gun measures are on the ballot in 2026?

Four. Arkansas Issue 2, Colorado Amendment 83, Massachusetts Question 9 and Idaho’s advisory state gun question are the statewide measures on the November 3, 2026 ballot that deal with guns or hunting.

What does a YES vote on Massachusetts Question 9 do?

It keeps Chapter 135 of the Acts of 2024, the state’s 2024 gun law, in place. A NO vote repeals it 30 days after the election, if the NO votes also equal at least 30 percent of all ballots cast.

Does Colorado Amendment 83 change hunting seasons or licenses?

No, not on its own. Colorado’s Blue Book says it makes no immediate change to existing law or regulations, and it needs 55 percent to pass. Any effect could come later, through new rules and court decisions.

Is Idaho’s state gun vote binding?

No. The Idaho Secretary of State calls it non-binding, and the Legislature would have to designate a state gun in a future session.

When will the results be final?

The deadlines in state law run to late November. Arkansas counties certify by November 18, Idaho’s state board meets by November 24, Colorado compiles statewide returns by November 27 and certifies them after any mandatory recounts, and Massachusetts tabulates after clerks report within 15 days.

Read the ballot language yourself, especially in Massachusetts, where YES means keep. Then vote like your freedom depends on it, because in four states some of it is printed right there on the ballot (and in Idaho, so is the 1911).

Sources: Arkansas Secretary of State, “Issue No. 2 (SJR 11) notice”; Arkansas Legislature, “SJR 11 status and votes”; Arkansas Secretary of State, “2026 Election Dates”; Colorado Secretary of State, “Amendments and Propositions on the 2026 Ballot”; Colorado Secretary of State, “Initiative #302 text”; Colorado Legislative Council, “2026 Blue Book”; Colorado Constitution, art. V, § 1(4), the 55 percent rule and effective date; Colorado Secretary of State, “2026 Election Calendar”; Secretary of the Commonwealth, “2026 Information for Voters”; Massachusetts Legislature, “Acts of 2024, Chapter 135”; Executive Office of Public Safety and Security, “An Act Modernizing Firearm Laws” memo; Massachusetts Constitution, amend. art. XLVIII, The Referendum, III, § 4, repeal of a law in effect; Mass. Gen. Laws c. 269, § 10A, suppressor possession; Mass. Gen. Laws c. 54, § 112 and § 115, counting ballot questions; Idaho Secretary of State, “2026 Idaho General Election”; Idaho Legislature, “House Bill 932”; Idaho Code § 34-1205 and § 34-1211, canvass deadlines; Missouri Secretary of State, “2026 Ballot Measures”; Arizona Secretary of State, “Ballot Measures”; Ballotpedia, “2026 ballot measures”.

Your knife is legal at home. Is it legal there?Automatic knives, blade limits and preemption for all fifty states and DC.Knife laws by state →popularedc.com

James Nicholas

NFA Firearms Manufacturer · Professional Gunsmith for over 20 years · Firearms Writer, Photographer and Firearms Expert. The XDMAN has a talent for taking complex firearms subject matter and breaking it down into an easy-to-understand format that all experience levels can relate to.

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