3 major gun bills advance in Oregon legislature

Three bills that would alter Oregon’s gun laws are advancing to the floor of both legislative chambers.

Members of the House and Senate judiciary committees this week voted along party lines to move the bills forward, with Democrats using their majority power in the face of Republican pushback.

The bills would create a 72-hour waiting period for gun purchases, ban rapid-fire devices, initiate a state licensing program for gun dealers and lay the framework to implement Ballot Measure 114. The voter-approved law, which has been argued in the courts since its passage in 2022, bans purchases of magazines that hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition and requires a permit before buying a gun.

Related: Oregon Measure 114, the gun control measure, explained

Supporters say the bills are necessary to stave off gun deaths that increased 40% from 2001 to 2023, according to research from OHSU and the Portland State University School of Public Health. In 2023, the rate of gun deaths in Oregon was 7% higher than the national average, 22% higher than in Washington and 74% higher than in California.

“We all deserve to be and feel safe in our communities,” Rep. Jason Kropf, D-Bend, said in an interview Thursday. “Gun violence erodes that safety.”

Opponents contend the legislation would infringe upon Oregonians’ rights while doing little to address the mental health problems that often lead to tragedy. Of the 3,125 people who died by firearms in Oregon between 2019 and 2023, 2,391 were suicides, compared to 622 homicides, the public health school’s research showed.

“These bills are an attack on the constitutional right to bear arms,” House Minority Leader Rep. Christine Drazan, R-Canby, said in a statement Tuesday. “The only thing these bills do is punish law-abiding gun owners and small businesses that are in full compliance with federal law.”

Halfway through a legislative session with few bipartisan fights, the bills are prompting a flood of public feedback and will likely divide lawmakers on the simmering debate of gun control. Taken together, their passage would result in significant changes to such regulations in Oregon, a state already considered to have some of the nation’s strictest gun laws.

Senate considers bill to create wait period, bump stock ban

Senate Bill 243 would ban rapid-fire devices like bump stocks that make semi automatic guns fully automatic and create at least a 72-hour waiting period to obtain a gun. It would also give local governments the authority to decide firearm rules in public buildings.

Proponents like Sen. Floyd Prozanski, a Eugene Democrat, say the bill aims to stop impulsive gun purchases that can lead to violence or suicide and keep rapid-fire weapons out of the hands of mass shooters.

Despite holding a majority, Senate Democrats on Wednesday voted to advance the bill without a previous provision that would have raised the age of buying most guns except for certain hunting rifles and shotguns. Prozanski did not immediately return OPB’s inquiry about why the provision was removed.

Senate Republicans argue the bill does next to nothing to prevent suicides, the leading cause of firearm death in Oregon. Sen. Mike McLane, R-Powell Butte, said in a hearing Wednesday that he predicts the bill could spark “uncertainty and incredible amounts of litigation.”

“I do not believe that this bill will achieve the goals of its sponsors and will instead negatively impact the rights of Oregonians to self-defense,” McLane said.

The bill now moves to the office of Senate President Rob Wagner, who will decide whether it goes immediately to the floor, stays at his desk or goes to a different committee, Prozanski said. Wagner, D-Lake Oswego, declined OPB’s request for comment Wednesday.

Creating a path for Measure 114

House Bill 3075 lays a framework for the implementation of Measure 114. It also gives authorities more time to grant a gun permit and increases the permit fee. House Bill 3076, meanwhile, directs the Oregon Department of Justice to create a state licensure program for gun dealers.

“To me, these are common sense gun safety measures,” said Kropf, chair of the House Judiciary Committee, adding that many Oregonians want improved background checks and increased oversight over gun dealers.

House Republicans disagree, saying in a statement that the bills make it harder to obtain a firearm and add “unnecessary oversight to an industry that already follows extensive federal regulations.”

“These bills are an absurd attempt to target law-abiding Oregon gun owners,” Rep. Alek Skarlatos, R-Winston, wrote. “They will ban standard size magazines, impose fees on the exercise of a constitutional right, and place prohibitive regulations on every local gunsmith and gun store, forcing these small businesses to close.”

Jess Marks, executive director for the gun safety advocacy group Alliance For A Safe Oregon, said regulations have not kept pace as firearm technology has shifted.

What’s more, she said, federal gun regulators are “vastly under-resourced” and now face further cuts by the Trump administration.

A recent OPB review of federal records showed that, in 2022 and 2023, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives inspected just 31 and 34 firearm dealers in Oregon. That’s less than 2% of the roughly 2,000 dealers statewide.

“If we want to get serious about respecting responsible owners, we have to deal with gun dealers who are profiting by allowing illegal guns into our communities, whether it’s intentional or unintentional,” Marks said.

In March, the Oregon Court of Appeals ruled that the voter-approved Measure 114 does not violate the state constitution. Two Harney County gun owners have said they plan to appeal the ruling to the Oregon Supreme Court.