Why Gov. Healey is taking action to immediately implement new gun law

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Now, to the news:

Chess moves: Gov. Maura Healey is taking executive action to put the wide-ranging gun control law she signed this past summer into effect immediately today. As WBUR’s Walter Wuthmann reports, the move comes as gun rights groups gather signatures to put a measure on the 2026 ballot to repeal the law. Healey’s action also preempts the possibility of the law being temporarily suspended by the referendum effort next week.

• Remind me how the repeal effort works: Opponents of the law must file at least 37,287 signatures by next Wednesday to move forward with the 2026 referendum effort. However, if they are able to reach a higher threshold — 49,716 signatures — the state Constitution would allow them to pause the law from taking effect until voters get the chance to weigh in.
• What is Healey doing? Most laws begin to take effect 90 days after they’re signed, which would be Oct. 23 in this case. However, Healey is signing an “emergency preamble” to implement it today. That means the law will remain in effect for at least the next two years, even as the 2026 repeal effort continues.
• How are the law’s opponents reacting? They’re not happy about their plan to scuttle the law getting scuttled itself. Cape Gun Works owner Toby Leary, who’s leading the repeal coalition, told Walt that Healey’s action “to circumvent the constitutional process, and the will of the people, is the move of a tyrant.”
• What does the law do again? The highlights include an update to the state’s assault weapons ban, a crackdown on untraceable ghost guns, and a ban on firearms in schools and government buildings. You can dig deeper into the details of the law here.

Heads up: More hotel strikes could be looming on Boston’s horizon — and not just for a few days. The hotel workers’ union, Unite Here Local 26, is pledging to go on strike indefinitely if contracts with three-dozen hotels in Boston are not met by 12:01 a.m. Friday. The ultimatum comes after the union held three rounds of three-day strikes this summer, as they fight for higher wages and more shifts. “We’ve taken strike votes at 36 hotels,” Local 26 president Carlos Aramayo told WBUR’s Dan Guzman. “Any hotel that doesn’t have an agreement with Local 26, we’re prepared to begin an open-ended strike. That may happen Friday. It may happen Saturday. It may happen a week from now, but the deadline is a real deadline.”

• Meanwhile: Boston’s dockworkers plan to be on the picket line 24/7 during the larger longshoremen’s worker strike. WBUR’s Zeninjor Enwemeka has more on the scenes in South Boston here.

The good MBTA news could only last so long: Shuttle buses are replacing all Green Line service north of North Station today, due to a derailment yesterday near Lechmere that injured at least six people.

• T officials are still investigating the cause of the derailment. Photos from the scene showed half of the leading trolley off the tracks near where the two Green Line Extension branches split.

Eek: Yesterday marked the start of dog-friendly season at many Massachusetts beaches, but you may want to paws if you’re headed to Ipswich. Crane Beach visitors are being urged to keep their dogs out of the water, due to continued shark sightings. The beach will also remain closed to human swimming through at least Halloween.

P.S.— While the moderators of last night’s vice presidential debate largely refrained from live fact-checking, that’s not stopping us. Click here for NPR’s fact-check of JD Vance and Tim Walz, plus five takeaways from the refreshingly substantive and cordial affair.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.