Back in 2022, Oregon voters approved a "permit-to-purchase" law by the narrowest of margins, but more than three years after that vote Measure 114 has yet to take effect.
Ongoing court challenges are one reason for the delay, but the Democrats in control of the legislation have also extended the start date in order to give the state and counties more time to prepare for the implementation of the rule, which requires county sheriffs to be in charge of issuing the permits. As of right now the measure is slated to take effect on March 15, but a bill pending in the state legislature would once again move back implementation; this time until 2028.
House Bill 4145 would extend the effective date to 2028, increase the cost to apply for a gun permit from $65 to $150 and boost permit renewal fees from $50 to $110.
It drew strong praise and heated opposition on the first day of the legislative session last week.
Rep. Sarah Finger McDonald, D-Corvallis, said voters in her district “are still waiting for that law to go into effect and they want it to work.”HB 4145 also would extend the period before a permitting agent can issue or deny a permit from 30 days to 60 days. And it would exempt information in permit applications and background check reports from public records requests.
In addition to the permit-to-purchase langauge, Measure 114 also banned the sale, manufacture, and transfer of "large capacity" magazines. Lawmakers tweaked that provision last year, though, and included a ban on possessing these magazines as well. Under HB 4145, owners would have 180 days to permanently modify their magazines, turn them over to law enforcement, destroy them, or move them out of state in order to avoid the prospect of criminal charges.
The future of Measure 114 is already in doubt after a county judge declared the law violates Oregon's constitution. An appeals court disagreed, and now the case is pending a decision by the state Supreme Court. A federal challenge is also on hold until that decision has been released, but a district court judge upheld the magazine ban portion of the ballot initiative in July, 2023 after concluding that "large capacity" magazines “are not commonly used for self-defense, and are therefore not protected by the Second Amendment.”
HB 4145, which is sponsored by several House Democrats, has split the gun control lobby. Moms Demand Action and Ceasefire Oregon are urging lawmakers to allow Measure 114 to take effect next month, while Emily Walsh of the Center for Gun Violence Solutions at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, told legislators that the delay will “give the state the time and the tools it needs to effectively administer these gun violence solutions.”
I think both Measure 114 and HB 4145 are steaming infringements on our right to keep and bear arms, but from both a practical and legal perspective it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world if the House bill is adopted. The two-year delay would be good for gun owners and firearm retailers, while the increased fee and potential 60-day waiting period would add new evidence to the argument that the law runs afoul of the Supreme Court's decision in Bruen, which said that even "shall issue" permitting regimes for concealed carry licenses can violate the Constitution if they impose exorbitant fees or result in lengthy delays.
Adding an extra $150 dollars to the cost of buying a gun (plus the cost of the mandated training) and forcing people to wait for up to two months before they can exercise a fundamental civil right sure seems exorbitant and excessive to me, and the more egregious the law, the more likely it is to be struck down... at least in theory.
A two-year delay would also give the U.S. Supreme Court time to take up a mag ban case. Challenges to magazine bans in Washington and California are already before SCOTUS, though the justices haven't granted cert or denied the cases outright. Other cases, including gun and magazine bans in Illinois and New Jersey, are awaiting decisions by appeals courts, and those too are likely to reach SCOTUS well before 2028.
Besides, if Measure 114 does end up taking effect next month, there's nothing stopping Democrats from going ahead and jacking up the fees and extending the processing of applications anyway. HB 4145 would at least delay the implementation of those provisions for another two years, which would ultimately benefit gun owners... at least in the short term.
Some opponents of Measure 114 are urging lawmakers not to take any action until the state Supreme Court has issued its decision in the ongoing lawsuit, which also makes sense. I'm not particularly hopeful that that the court will strike down the law, though it has kept an injunction issued by a Harney County judge in place while Measure 114 is still being litigated.
The only positives to HB 4145 are the delays in implementation and the provision exempting information on permit applications from public records requests. Whether that's enough of a benefit to bring Republican lawmakers on board when they're opposed to underlying premise of Measure 114 remains to be seen, but with the clock ticking and the March 15 effective date rapidly approaching, we won't have too long to wait to know whether HB 4145 will move forward.
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