There will be no gun initiative on any voter-led ballot this fall.
Seven states tried to get 11 citizen-led gun referendums on the ballot this year, but all failed, according to Victoria Rose, who tracks the measures for the election database Ballotpedia.
Seven of the offers Rose said he supported expanding gun rights, including one that would create the right to carry a concealed firearm without a permit in Oregon.
Among the four proposed reforms, voters in Washington state wanted to ban the sale of assault weapons, while voters in California proposed requiring trigger locks on firearms and annual gun license renewals.
None of the 11 proposals had enough signatures to move forward, which Rose said is not unusual. He said only six gun initiatives have been voted on since 2000.
The lack of gun-related ballot measures this year is a good thing, according to Christian Heine, chief programs and policy officer at gun violence prevention organization Brady. Heyne said it’s a sign state and federal lawmakers are passing gun laws, meaning voters no longer have to take matters into their own hands.
“We’ve seen a historic turnaround and a shift to proactive legislation in legislatures across the country,” Heyne said.
Advocates say that since 2012, states have passed more than 620 gun safety laws. In 2022, President Joe Biden signed the law into law Bilateral Secure Communities Act, the most significant gun safety legislation in nearly three decades. He gave states grants for “red flag laws,” improved background checks to include juvenile records and increased background checks for 18- to 21-year-olds, among other things.
“Some of that speaks to the way states, in particular, are stepping up to do the right thing,” he said.
Today’s progress is “very different” from 2016, Heyne said.
Nevada passed a narrow amendment that year expands background checks. He widely supported the creation of Washington State red flag lawit allows police or family members to get a court order to take guns away from people who may pose a threat. During the runoff, voters in California passed proposals that strengthened gun laws.
“By necessity,” Heyne said, “I think there was a public demand for gun laws and a feeling that if our legislatures didn’t act, we would.”
But Randy Kozuch, executive director of the NRA Institute for Legislative Action, pointed to the main ways gun rights have expanded in the past few years.
In his first major decision on a Second Amendment case in more than a decade Supreme Court in 2022 made it easier for millions of people to carry handguns in public. The court struck down New York’s century-old concealed carry provision that required gun owners who wanted to carry a handgun outside their homes to prove they had a unique need for self-defense.
The number of states with constitutional carry laws has also increased from 16 to 29 in the past three years, Kozuch said, while 17 states have passed laws prohibiting the tracking of firearms and ammunition purchases.
“Second Amendment rights, much to the chagrin of gun control activists, have been protected and expanded through state legislatures and the judiciary,” he said. “Anti-liberty state legislatures now find their unconstitutional laws challenged in the courts.”
There were no gun reform initiatives on the 2020 presidential ballot — in part because of the pandemic, which prevented in-person signature gathering. Iza nonprofit news site covering gun violence.
Confirmed event in 2022 Oregon — billed by the NRA-ILA as “the nation’s most extreme gun control initiative” — banned certain ammunition magazines and required background checks and permits issued by law enforcement agencies.
This year, the only state gun measure was brought to the ballot Colorado lawmakers needing voter approval to levy an excise tax on firearms and ammunition.
Lawmakers hope the 6.5% tax on the manufacture and retail sale of guns and ammunition will boost millions of dollars for mental health resources, school safety and gun violence prevention and other services.
At the local level, Memphis voters will be asked whether to amend the city charter to require handgun carry permits, ban assault rifles and allow a red flag law.
Last week, Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti said he did not support the proposals, but would not oppose them if they were passed by the city council, even if they were against state law.
A Tennessee law allowing adults to carry handguns without a permit went into effect in 2021. In May, the state passed a law preventing local governments from enforcing red flag laws.
Skrmetti said in a statement that ballot initiatives are a “futile waste of time and money” and will not change the law.
“It’s Memphis’ mistake, and ultimately it’s going to be Memphis’ mistake to pay for it,” he said.