Oregon’s Firearm Industry Firms Try to Navigate Measure 114 as the State Tries to Figure Out How it Will Work


Dan Z. for TTAG

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Oregon’s recently passed gun control Measure 114 is set to go into effect on December 8. As the days tick by, Oregon gun stores have been deluged with buyers and the state police can’t keep up with the demand for background checks.

Never mind the fact that no one has really drawn up specifics of what the citizen-initiated law will actually look like, how it will work or be implemented, or who’s going to pay for it.

Then there’s the little matter of the law’s constitutionality. At least one lawsuit has already been filed to block enforcement of the restrictions, with more on the way. Looking at the legal landscape, particularly under the Supreme Court’s Bruen ruling, a Wilamette University law prof predicts that given the legal challenges and the questionable nature of the restrictions imposed on lawful gun owners under Measure 114, it could be years before any of it is implemented. If at all.

Meanwhile, Oregon-based firearm-related firms are looking at navigating the new, uncertain legal landscape. Beaverton-based Leupold has been in Oregon for over a century and has issued the following statement condemning Measure 114 and the chaos it’s creating for the Beaver State’s lawful gun owners . . .

Leupold & Stevens, Inc., provider of the world’s most rugged, lightweight, and clear sport optics, denounces recently passed Oregon Ballot Measure 114 and has announced full support for the National Shooting Sports Foundation’s (NSSF) upcoming legal challenge to the misguided measure.

Ballot Measure 114, which narrowly passed a general vote on Nov. 8, 2022, is a citizen-initiated ballot measure that will amend state statute. It mandates that a non-existent permit-for-purchase system be put in place in Oregon for every firearm sale. The permit system will require an application, photographs, fingerprints, FBI background check and a new undefined mandatory state firearms class. Measure 114 also requires a ban on magazines or firearms holding more than 10 rounds, which will include many hunting rifles and shotguns.

“Oregon leaders have failed to explain how Measure 114 will be implemented and what exactly passage means for law-abiding firearm retailers, ranges and manufacturers,” the NSSF said in an official announcement, “Your trade association will not abandon the fight now and has filed a lawsuit to invalidate this egregious Ballot Measure. We’re also evaluating legislative options to implore the Oregon Legislature to delay implementation of the law until it is rightfully struck down as unconstitutional by the courts.”

The ballot measure will go into effect at 12 a.m. on Dec. 8, 2022. With no framework or plans for implementation in place, the legal sale of firearms in Oregon will indefinitely cease at that time.

“Ballot Measure 114 is misguided and must be defeated,” said Larry Keane, Senior Vice President and General Counsel for the NSSF. “We have opposed it since its inception and will continue to fight it in the courts. We’re grateful to our partners at Leupold for both their leadership in the firearms industry and their relentless support in fighting Measure 114.”

Prior to election day, the NSSF helped to organize the primary opposition to the ballot measure through the creation of “Sportsmen Opposed to Gun Violence: Vote No on 114,” of which Leupold was a significant contributing member, and raised more than $100,000. The group’s new legal challenge hopes to delay implementation of Ballot Measure 114 until it can be defeated through the legal system.

“As the NSSF and others have shown, Ballot Measure 114 does nothing to curb violence and instead simply threatens the rights of law-abiding gun owners and hunters throughout Oregon,” said Bruce Pettet, President and Chief Executive Officer for Leupold & Stevens, Inc. “It is universally opposed by law enforcement agencies and conservation groups alike and is a violation of the Second Amendment rights that all hunters and gun owners hold dear. We stand with the NSSF and are ready to do everything we can to support the cause.”

For more information on Leupold products, please visit us at Leupold.com.

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