Gun Law Trendwatch: States Are Moving Forward in 2026

Every year, the attorneys and experts at GIFFORDS Law Center track the hundreds of gun-related bills moving through state legislatures across the country. And every year, we analyze the trends we’re seeing, from popular policies to gun lobby attempts to undermine our safety. 

Notably, Virginia passed a slate of gun violence prevention bills covering a wide range of policy issues, including an industry accountability bill—which makes the commonwealth the 11th state to create standards of conduct for the gun industry and set up a pathway to hold the industry accountable for any dangerous behavior. 

This year hasn’t been all wins. The gun lobby ceaselessly works to undermine our progress, weakening existing safety laws and lobbying against some of our biggest goals. Wyoming made it a crime to enforce an extreme risk protection order. Kentucky and Utah both expanded gun industry immunity. But we successfully fought back against incredibly reckless gun lobby bills, including the Sig Sauer–funded immunity bill in Florida, as well as attempts to repeal gun safety laws, including the waiting period law in Maine. 

We have about four months left in the year—which means states like California, Illinois, and New Jersey still have time to notch even more wins to protect their communities. We’ll continue monitoring their progress and report back at the end of the year, but, for now, let’s take a look at the gun-related legislation states have passed so far in 2026. 

As the federal government has taken steps to weaken gun laws, state legislatures have continued to work independently to keep their residents safe. 

So far this year, we’ve seen several states continue their investments in community violence intervention (CVI). For more information on CVI legislation, see GIFFORDS’s Community Violence Intervention Policy Analysis & Tracking Hub (PATH). 

In recent years, many states have banned auto sears, which attach easily to some models of handguns and convert them from semiautomatic to automatic fire—effectively creating a machine gun. These devices are frequently called “Glock switches” because of their pervasive use on Glock pistols, which are uniquely easy to convert to automatic fire. 

However, it’s still far too easy to buy or make these deadly devices. That’s why states have now turned to addressing the handguns themselves.

When abusers have access to firearms, their intimate partners are five times more likely to be killed. That’s why it’s critical that state laws not only prohibit an abusive partner from purchasing and possessing firearms, but set out specific procedures for how that partner must surrender all firearms they currently possess. This session, we saw a number of states—with both Democrat and Republican support—impose stricter standards for abusive partners surrendering firearms: 

Meanwhile, in partnership with the California Department of Justice, GIFFORDS is working to improve California’s nation-leading array of protection orders that carry firearm prohibitions. The Pathways to Safety Act (AB 1753) addresses implementation barriers and strives for stronger protections for people suffering from violence. The bill has passed the state assembly and, as of publication, is pending in the senate Appropriations Committee.

As 3D printers have become cheaper and more common, individuals who cannot pass a background check or who want a firearm prohibited by their states’ laws have turned to 3D printing to make the firearms they can’t legally purchase. Fortunately, many states have begun to pass laws restricting the use of 3D printers to make firearms.

California already prohibits using a 3D printer to make firearms, but is now considering a bill that would require blocking technology on 3D printers akin to New York’s law (AB 2047). Meanwhile, other states have continued to pass laws regarding ghost guns more generally. 

Effective oversight of the gun industry is a cornerstone of preventing gun violence—including regulating gun dealers and holding the industry accountable for irresponsible practices. Historically, oversight of firearms dealers has been mainly the purview of the ATF. Among other things, the agency is in charge of licensing federal firearms dealers, tracing guns used in crimes, and analyzing intelligence in shooting investigations. Recent steps by the Trump administration, however, have left the agency “rudderless, leaderless and demoralized.”

Despite federal restrictions, states continue to pursue accountability—especially with regards to rogue gun dealers.  

Comprehensive child access prevention and safe storage laws are an incredibly effective tool to curb gun deaths and injuries among children and teens. More than half of all gun owners store at least one gun unsafely—without any locks or other safe storage measures. But with just a few commonsense measures, gun owners can protect their families and communities.

Lawmakers in Virginia went above and beyond this session to protect their communities from gun violence. In April, Governor Spanberger signed a package of gun safety measures into law. Many of these bills aren’t new; they’ve been passed by the legislature before, but were vetoed by the previous Republican governor. GIFFORDS experts played a crucial role in helping draft these bills, testify in support of them, and push them over the finish line this year. 

Passing laws that create these standards of conduct for the gun industry is a relatively new trend; New York became the first state to pass one in 2021. But since then, 10 other states have stepped up and done the same. Virginia is just the latest. 

Governor Spanberger also signed bills to:

This list isn’t exhaustive; we just wanted to highlight some of our favorites. The enactment of this slate of gun safety measures is a testament to the dedication of Virginia lawmakers—and the communities they represent—to strengthen public safety and save lives. 

The gun lobby has done real harm in state legislatures this year—including protecting the gun industry from accountability, criminalizing police officers if they enforce court-ordered extreme risk protection orders (ERPOs), and reducing the age for people to be able to carry a concealed gun. 

Several red states have anti-ERPO laws on the books, which make it more difficult for law enforcement to carry out an extreme risk protection order.

This year, Wyoming lawmakers added a criminal penalty—carrying up to a year in jail, a fine of up to $2,000, or both—to the state’s law prohibiting state and local authorities from enforcing a red flag order against Wyoming residents (HB 90). State law already allowed authorized lawsuits and a civil penalty of up to $50,000 if state or local authorities enforced “any federal statute, rule, executive order, judicial order or judicial findings or any state statute, rule, executive order, judicial order or judicial findings that would enforce a red flag gun seizure” against Wyoming residents.  

Both Wyoming (H 96) and Kentucky (HB 312) reduced the age required to get a concealed carry permit from 21 to 18. Meanwhile, Utah enacted legislation (H 84) allowing adults 21 and older to carry a concealed weapon at an institution of higher education without a concealed carry permit.

In North Carolina, a permitless carry bill (S 50) that Governor Stein vetoed in 2025 remains a threat. It would allow any adult 18 or older to carry concealed guns in public without a permit and without basic firearm safety training—both of which are currently required by state law. The North Carolina Senate voted to override his veto, and there’s still time for the state house of representatives to follow suit.

In Arkansas, lawmakers last year referred a Right to Keep and Bear Arms state constitutional amendment to this year’s November ballot. That amendment includes “that the right to keep and bear arms includes without limitation the possession and use of ammunition, firearm accessories, and firearm components.” This reckless language could deter future legislatures from banning machine gun conversion devices, incendiary or exploding rounds, and other products that endanger the public.

Indiana Governor Braun prohibited property and casualty insurers from requiring policyholders to post gun-free zone notices (HB 1274).

Not every gun lobby effort resulted in a dangerous law or rollback. In several states, thanks to common sense and determined lawmakers, its efforts to further weaken gun laws were unrealized. 

In Florida, gun manufacturer Sig Sauer came out swinging. It sought even more immunity from lawsuits, and for a particularly insidious reason: The Sig Sauer P320 handgun has been widely reported to fire without the trigger being pulled, injuring gun owners and law enforcement across the country. But instead of taking it off the market, the company is instead trying to create roadblocks for future lawsuits so it can continue to sell the gun.

After donating hundreds of thousands of dollars to state Republicans, Sig Sauer and the gun lobby aggressively pushed to grant itself broad immunity from lawsuits for selling defective guns (HB 1551). Thankfully, following vigorous opposition from Democrats in the legislature, members of law enforcement, and organizations like GIFFORDS, this bill failed to pass through the state senate. 

Our experts are constantly tracking which gun laws are introduced and moving in states across the country. This helps us get a better sense of trends and where we can best focus our resources, and it also helps lawmakers and advocates monitor the state of their state and use this information to inform future efforts to pass gun safety bills—or to block dangerous gun lobby ones. If you’re interested in bringing strong gun violence prevention bills to your state, reach out to our team for more information.

We’ve been on the ground in a variety of states this year, and we’ve seen some big victories. But not all state legislative sessions are over, so our work isn’t done yet. For the rest of the year, we’ll be working with our partners to codify more gun safety laws, setting goals for next year’s sessions, and pushing back when the gun lobby—and the Republicans it supports—get too comfortable. You’ll hear from us again at the end of the year to provide a full Trendwatch edition of 2026’s state legislative wins.