Representative Steven S. Howitt denounces Governor Healey’s move to block temporary suspension of new firearms law Blasts 11th hour action to ‘pull the rug out’ on opponents seeking law’s repeal

Boston – State Representative Steven S. Howitt (R-Seekonk) is condemning Governor Maura Healey’s decision to issue an emergency declaration allowing the state’s new firearms law to take effect immediately, a move that prevents Second Amendment advocates pursuing a repeal of the law on the November 2026 ballot from securing its temporary suspension until it can go before the state’s voters.

Calling the new law “a solution in search of a problem” in a state that already has some of the toughest gun laws in the nation, Representative Howitt blasted the Governor’s decision to block efforts to suspend the law until the state’s voters have a chance to weigh in on the issue. Opponents of the bill can still pursue a repeal at the ballot in two years, but the Governor’s emergency declaration means the law will remain in effect in the meantime.

Representative Howitt, who voted against the bill, noted that the Governor unfairly “pulled the rug out at the eleventh hour” on the Gun Owners Action League (GOAL) and other opponents who were exercising their Constitutional rights to bring a referendum before the state’s voters. He saw the Governor’s move as an unfair ploy, noting Healey waited more than two months to declare the law an emergency measure, rather than adding an emergency preamble when signing the bill this past summer.

Representative Howitt noted the House and Senate did not include an emergency preamble on the firearms legislation when it was sent to the Governor on July 18 and would have added one if legislators felt it was truly needed. When the Governor signed the bill into law on July 25 as Chapter 135 of the Acts of 2024, An Act Modernizing Firearms Laws, she had the power to attach an emergency preamble but chose not to do so. Without the emergency preamble, the law was scheduled to take effect on October 23, or 90 days after its signing.

On October 2, Governor Healey invoked her Constitutional powers granted under Article 48 of the Amendments to the Massachusetts Constitution, declaring the legislation should take effect immediately in order to preserve the “public peace, health, safety and convenience.” Representative Howitt called out the Governor’s decision saying this was done to prevent opponents from exercising their Constitutional rights to petition for the law’s suspension pending a statewide referendum to repeal it.

Opponents of the firearms legislation have been working to secure the necessary 49,716 signatures to place the repeal question on the 2026 ballot. Under the referendum process, if the required number of certified signatures were filed by October 9, the law would have been suspended immediately. The Governor’s action prevents that from happening. The new law will negatively impact the Second Amendment rights for lawful gun ownership while accomplishing nothing to reduce crime in Massachusetts. Representative Howitt will work for a repeal in 2026 of the new law.