In this contribution, I explore possible axion-like particle (ALP) signatures arising from binary neutron star (BNS) mergers.
If the ALP--nucleon couplings $g_{aN}$ are sufficiently large, ALPs can be efficiently produced during these events through nucleon--nucleon bremsstrahlung.
The ALP--photon coupling $g_{a\gamma}$ may then induce conversions of ultralight ALPs into photons in the magnetic fields of both the merger remnant and the Milky Way.
This mechanism would generate a short gamma-ray burst nearly coincident with the gravitational-wave (GW) signal emitted during the inspiral phase.
Such a signal could be detected through multimessenger observations combining GW detectors and gamma-ray telescopes.

Here, I present the sensitivity of current and proposed MeV gamma-ray experiments to this ALP-induced emission.
For a Kim-Shifman-Vainshtein-Zakharov (KSVZ) inspired axion model, the most promising future instruments can reach sensitivities down to
$g_{a\gamma} \gtrsim \mathrm{few} \times 10^{-13}\,\mathrm{GeV}^{-1}$ for $m_a \lesssim 10^{-9}\,\mathrm{eV}$ for a BNS merger at $4$ Mpc.