Gun sales surge after Measure 114's passage

AP Photo/Jae C. Hong

Oregon’s Measure 114 barely passed, but it passed. That means it’s going to become law soon enough.

That’s the bad news.

However, the good news is that it isn’t in effect just yet, which gives people time to do what they need to, and it seems that many Oregonians are doing just that.

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Firearm sales in Oregon are reportedly increasing as a measure that will enact restrictions on the purchase of guns looks to pass.

Oregon Measure 114 would require a permit and hands-on safety training and fingerprinting provided by law enforcement to buy a gun, according to ABC-affiliated outlet KEZI. In addition, the measure would prohibit the sale of magazines that hold more than 10 rounds of ammo. It would not be illegal to own a gun without a permit, but a permit would be required by law to purchase one.

Tom Eichhorn, a former law enforcement officer, told KEZI that gun sales will likely continue to increase before the bill is certified.

“I expect gun sales will continue to climb as people try to get it as they can because they’re afraid their rights are going to be violated, that they’re not going to be able to have the right to defend themselves anymore, and I think that’s a real worry for a lot of people,” Eichhorn said.

That’s because the law will violate their rights. It won’t quite take away their right to defend themselves, but it will make it exceedingly difficult to exercise that right should you need to.

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So, folks are flocking to the gun store to buy guns.

They’re also likely using credit cards, so that should be fun to watch. After all, how are the credit card companies going to determine what’s suspicious in such a situation?

Anyway, this is one of those things anti-gunners rarely think about. They’re so sure they can stem the flow of guns to wherever it is they’re afraid of guns going that they don’t stop to account for the fact that people know laws are coming down the line and will act accordingly.

See, there’s this thing about people where they may delay doing something indefinitely so long as it’s always an option, but when you take away that option, it becomes obligatory they do something.

It’s why people who live in New York may never go see the Statue of Liberty or why an acquaintance of mine who lives an hour from Stonehenge has never been. It’s because they can go there anytime, so there’s no pressing need to do so now.

The same is true with guns.

A lot of people kind of want an AR-15, but since it’s always an option, they’re not going to go and get it right now because there are other things they want to do more in this moment. Yet if you pass an assault weapon ban right now that will go into effect on January 1st, suddenly the AR skips ahead in line.

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Now, thanks to Measure 114, there’s a time factor that makes it imperative the person buys that particular gun right now.

Yet without that, many would likely never get around to buying such a weapon.

Measure 114 created that incentive. Now, Oregonians who would likely never have bothered to buy are flocking to the stores to do just that.

Obviously, that’s not what proponents expected to happen, but it did and it shouldn’t be unexpected.

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