OREGON
BAKER CITY HERALD • SATuRDAY, NovEmBER 19, 2022 A5
Uncertainty reigns over start of 114’s limits
BY MAXINE BERNSTEIN
oregonlive.com
Backers of Oregon’s gun con-
trol Measure 114 declared a ma-
jor victory last week, but uncer-
tainty lies ahead with months of
legal wrangling and rule-mak-
ing likely to delay the start well
into next year, if ever.
State police, lawmakers and
proponents must write the reg-
ulations for the state’s first-ever
permits to buy a gun and fig-
ure out how much the rules will
cost to carry out.
Meanwhile, at least one Ore-
gon sheriff has promised not to
enforce the ban on large-capac-
ity magazines, while gun rights
advocates are gearing up to
block the measure, arguing it vi-
olates their Second Amendment
right to bear arms.
Voters narrowly passed the
measure 51% to 49%, chalking
up a momentous win in the na-
tional movement to curb gun
violence.
Voters in seven counties con-
sidered some of the state’s Dem-
ocratic strongholds, including
Multnomah, Washington, Lane
and Benton counties, passed the
measure, while 29 of the state’s
largely rural, conservative coun-
ties rejected it.
Its passage was the culmina-
tion of a grassroots, interfaith
push by Lift Every Voice Ore-
gon that began shortly after the
2018 school shooting in Park-
land, Florida, killed 17 students
and staff.
“We’re very humbled by this,
but it wasn’t a victory over any-
body. It was a victory for our
children that we can all cele-
brate,” said one of the chief peti-
tioners, the Rev. Mark Knutson
from Portland’s Augustana Lu-
theran Church.
Lawyers advising the Oregon
Firearms Federation, the Sec-
ond Amendment Foundation
and other gun rights advocates
disagree.
They’re preparing to ask a
judge for a temporary restrain-
ing order and preliminary in-
junction to prevent the measure
from taking effect until a judge
can weigh if it meets constitu-
tional muster.
“The first draft of our com-
plaint has been written. We’re
still adding plaintiffs to the suit,
and we’ll be ready to pounce,”
said Alan M. Gottlieb, founder
of the Second Amendment
Foundation, based in Bellevue,
Washington.
The legal landscape has
changed significantly since sup-
porters first drafted Measure
114. Court challenges to one of
its provisions, a ban on large-ca-
pacity magazines, are pending
in neighboring California and
Washington states.
The outcomes in those cases
could provide guidance to Or-
egon as the state drafts rules to
put Measure 114 into practice,
legal observers say.
While the passage of Measure
114 shows the strength of the
gun safety movement right now,
it’s too early to tell if the law will
survive constitutional scrutiny
in the wake of the major U.S.
Supreme Court ruling in late
June overturning a New York
gun safety law, said Adam Win-
kler, a constitutional law profes-
sor at UCLA School of Law.
“There’s no doubt the U.S. Su-
preme Court has declared war
on gun safety legislation,” Win-
kler said. “We don’t know which
exact laws will be upheld.”
He suspects part of Measure
114 may withstand review, such
as the move to require com-
pleted background checks be-
fore a gun sale, but others may
not, such as the ban of maga-
zines that hold more than 10
rounds of ammunition.
“It’s going to be awhile,” Win-
kler said, “before this law goes
into effect, if it ever does.”
WHEN DOES MEASURE 114
START?
It technically kicks in on Jan.
15, 30 days after certification of
the vote on Dec. 15.
Yet state police are likely to
seek an extension — which
could last months — to allow
time to hash out the gun permit
system in the Legislature.
State police are “assessing the
required processes” under the
measure but can’t provide de-
tails on any plans until there’s
certification of the election re-
sults, said state police Capt. Kyle
Kennedy, an agency spokesman.
Under the measure, anyone
who wants to buy a gun must
get a permit from a sheriff’s of-
fice, pay an expected fee of $65,
Roman Tiraspolsky/Shutterstock.com
Oregon voters on Nov. 8 approved Measure 114, one of the more restrictive gun laws in the nation.
complete an approved firearms
safety course at their own ex-
pense, submit a photo ID, be
fingerprinted and pass a crimi-
nal background check.
HOW WILL RULES BE
WRITTEN?
Lift Every Voice Oregon
committee members are confer-
ring with state lawmakers and
state police on setting up a Mea-
sure 114 committee and work-
group to write the rules on ev-
erything from the information
sought on permit application
forms to the type of courses re-
quired for safety training.
The proponents’ goal is to
have a committee that includes
a wide range of stakeholders.
Other issues to be decided:
Whether state police need more
employees to compile a data-
base of those granted permits
and others who are rejected;
how much money or staff
county sheriffs’ offices will need
to handle the permit process
and what resources are needed
to help state police do additional
background checks for permit
applicants.
“When you do something
as comprehensive in terms of a
new procedure, it’s almost im-
possible to put it all in the stat-
ute,” said Liz McKanna, a mem-
ber of Lift Every Voice Oregon’s
legislative committee.
“Part of it is we also want in-
put from the people who are go-
ing to be administering the per-
mitting process,” she said.
Sen. Floyd Prozanski, D-Eu-
gene, who chairs the Senate’s
Judiciary Committee, said law-
makers still must work out a
timeline and a process to assign
various bills relating to Measure
114 to different committees.
Rep. Jason Kropf, D-Bend,
who chairs the House Judiciary
Committee, said he’ll also be
working with legislative counsel
on next steps to implement the
measure.
No dates are set yet.
to buy a gun from a federally li-
censed dealer.
Police will deny a sale if
someone is under 18, has a fel-
ony conviction or an arrest war-
rant for a felony.
They also will reject gun
buyers if they have been found
guilty by reason of insanity in a
criminal case, found incompe-
tent to stand trial or have been
committed to a mental health
institution.
Measure 114 adds another,
stricter background check re-
quired before someone can ob-
tain a permit to buy a gun.
Under the measure, state
police can deny permits to ap-
plicants if, for example, they
are “reasonably likely to be a
danger” to themselves or others
because of their mental or psy-
chological state or have a “past
pattern of behavior” involving
violence or threats of violence.
A permit is good for five
years. Gun owners must un-
dergo the permit background
check each time they renew
their permit.
And each time they buy a
new gun after getting a permit,
they must undergo the standard
firearms criminal background
check.
Measure 114 also closes the
so-called Charleston loophole
by requiring that a background
check be completed before a
gun is sold or transferred. Un-
der federal law, a gun sale can
occur if a background check
isn’t completed within three
business days.
As the measure is written
now, the requirement would go
into effect Jan. 15, but state po-
lice may seek a delay in order
to prepare to handle the added
workload of permit background
checks.
Several gun shop workers
said stores typically already wait
for state police to finish a back-
ground check before turning
over a gun. One said the cur-
rent turn-around time for state
police to complete background
checks is three to four weeks.
WILL GUN SALES STOP?
Gun rights advocates contend
the measure will halt gun sales
as of Jan. 15 because no one will
have a permit to buy one.
Proponents of the measure
said that’s not true.
“Sales will not halt because
permits cannot be required
until (Oregon State Police) de-
velops the rules and finalizes
the standardized form to ap-
ply,’’ said Anthony Johnson, a
spokesman for the Measure 114
campaign.
Salem-based attorney Leon-
ard Williamson, who has been
a licensed firearms dealer for
20 years and helps advise gun
rights groups, remains skeptical.
“They may believe that, but
there’s no place in Measure 114
that says that ‘until state police
creates rules, that sales can con-
tinue,’” he said. “I’m not going
to take a chance and violate the
law because I don’t want ATF or
state police at my door.”
Johnson said a legislative
mandate or executive order
could easily make it clear that
the state won’t prohibit gun
sales while the permit rules are
being drawn.
HOW ABOUT GUN
TRAINING?
A county sheriff’s office,
which now processes con-
cealed handgun licenses,
would accept applications and
issue the permits to buy guns
once applicants pass a permit
background check and meet
other requirements.
Those include law enforce-
ment-approved firearms train-
ing. Courses could be taken at
a community college, firearms
training school, private or pub-
lic organization or from law en-
forcement, the measure says.
The course must cover a re-
view of laws governing owner-
ship, purchase, transfer and use
of firearms, safe storage, report-
ing of lost and stolen guns, and
the impact of homicides and
suicides on families.
People also must demon-
strate their ability to lock, load,
unload, fire and store a gun in
front of a certified firearms in-
structor.
The rules-writing is expected
to address who can offer the
courses and the curriculum.
WHAT’S THE STATUS OF
BACKGROUND CHECKS?
State police now do a crim-
inal background check that’s
required when someone tries
WHAT DO I DO WITH MY
HIGH-CAPACITY
MAGAZINES?
Licensed dealers who already
own larger-capacity magazines
have 180 days from Jan. 15 to
sell them to an out-of-state gun
dealer or other person out of
state or to destroy them.
After the 180 days, gun deal-
ers can sell or transfer only
newly manufactured high-ca-
pacity magazines marked with
a special stamp denoting they’re
for military or law enforcement
use – two exceptions under the
law.
One other exception: People
who already own the maga-
zines can keep them in a private
home, on private property, use
them at a shooting range or in
a shooting competition, or for
recreational purposes such as
hunting as allowed by state law.
A check of gun shops around
Portland on Friday, Nov. 11
showed they were doing brisk
business selling rifles and guns.
Several workers said they
don’t know what they’re go-
ing to do with the high-ca-
pacity magazines now in their
inventory. They doubted any
large-capacity magazine owners
would destroy them until any
legal challenges are heard.
One wondered if manufac-
turers would buy them back.
One said they had reduced their
inventory due to the uncer-
tainty. Another said he knew
that some gun shops in Cali-
fornia have kept a stash in their
basements until the law gets
ironed out.
Yet another said they’ve got-
ten no guidance from the sheriff
or the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco, Firearms and Explo-
sives.
CAN SHERIFFS
IGNORE THE LAW?
In Linn County, less than 24
hours after the measure passed,
Sheriff Michelle Duncan an-
nounced her office “is NOT
going to be enforcing magazine
capacity limits.”
She called the measure poorly
written and said she hopes its
passage will result in an imme-
diate lawsuit.
Duncan told The Oregonian/
OregonLive that she issued the
statement because her office has
received calls from people who
fear they’ll face criminal charges
if they’re pulled over while driv-
ing and found with a magazine
that holds more than 10 rounds.
“I’m not out there to try to
look for their magazines and ar-
rest anybody,’’ she said.
Union County Sheriff Cody
Bowen followed suit, saying his
office won’t enforce what he
called “redundant background
checks” and vowed to “fight to
the death” to defend gun own-
ers’ constitutional rights “no
matter what crazy law comes
out of Salem!”
Klamath County Sheriff
Chris Kaber also this week said
he believes the measure presents
an “unconstitutional restriction”
on the right to possess guns. He
urged those with large-capacity
magazines to take photos and
otherwise document that they
had them before Measure 114
takes effect.
Winkler, the UCLA law pro-
fessor, said sheriffs in Colorado
and other states have taken sim-
ilar stands.
Sheriffs are elected so it’s not
realistic to take enforcement ac-
tion against them, he said.
Knutson, the Measure 114
petitioner, said he’s reaching
out to each county sheriff in the
state to tell them he hears their
concerns.
“We want them to work with
us to make the most just and
equitable law that works for ev-
erybody,” he said. “I want to get
their best thinking.”
Oregon Attorney General
Ellen Rosenblum said the state
Department of Justice will help
state agencies carry out the new
law and will defend any law-
suits.
“We expect law enforcement
to comply with the law, includ-
ing enforcing it,” said Kris-
tina Edmunson, Rosenblum’s
spokesperson.
HOW MUCH TO
ADMINISTER?
The Oregon State Sheriffs’
Association estimated that it
will cost local sheriff’s offices
more than $40 million the first
year to hire staff and manage
the administrative permit-
ting process for an estimated
300,000 permits a year.
The measure’s proponents
have argued that many sheriff’s
offices already handle the state’s
concealed handgun licensing
program, so adopting the gun
permit-to-purchase program
won’t be too different or de-
manding.
For one, the Multnomah
County Sheriff’s Office is eval-
uating how the measure might
affect its operations but it’s too
early to know if it will need ad-
ditional staff or money, said
agency spokesperson Christina
Kempster.
State police have estimated
they would need 38 more po-
sitions to handle the increased
workload.
The measure is expected to
cost both state and local govern-
ments $55 million in the first bi-
ennium and about $50 million
for each successive biennium,
according to a state financial
impact committee. Local gov-
ernments would get up to $19.5
million annually from permit
fees based on 300,000 applica-
tions a year.
But the state committee
noted “uncertainty in the as-
sumptions” behind those esti-
mates.
This will be another central
question for the Legislature and
the Measure 114 Committee to
address.
WHAT’S UP WITH THE U.S.
SUPREME COURT?
Opponents are hoping to
block the new gun control law
before it takes effect. They’re
looking to a new standard set
by the U.S. Supreme Court for
evaluating Second Amendment
claims.
In a 6-3 ruling in June, the
nation’s high court struck down
a New York law that placed
strict limits on carrying guns
outside the home. The court’s
majority directed lower courts
to use a new “text-and-history”
standard when evaluating chal-
lenges to firearms regulations.
Courts must determine
whether “the Second Amend-
ment’s plain text” protects the
conduct in which the plaintiff
wishes to engage, and if it does,
then decide if the regulation “is
consistent with this Nation’s his-
torical tradition of firearm reg-
ulation.”
It threw out a prior two-
prong standard that courts had
used for years: First, does the
regulation infringe on some-
one’s Second Amendment right
of self-defense, and if so, does
the regulation further an im-
portant government interest.
Opponents of the measure
also are buoyed by the U.S. Su-
preme Court’s ruling weeks
later vacating a decision in a
San Diego case that had upheld
California’s nearly identical ban
to Oregon’s on magazines that
hold more than 10 bullets.
The high court sent the case
back to a lower court to recon-
sider in light of its decision in
the New York case. Parties in
the California case have until
next spring to file further legal
briefs.
California’s attorney general
in the latest brief filed Thurs-
day argues that nothing in the
Second Amendment text covers
carrying large-capacity maga-
zines.
The magazines aren’t “arms”
because they’re not essential
for operating a gun and they
wouldn’t have been considered
“arms” in 1791 or 1868, the brief
says. And, even if they were,
they’re not commonly used for
self-defense, the brief says.