Oregon’s Measure 114 was always doomed to be a slow-moving trainwreck in the making. No one with half a brain thought Oregonian gun rights activists would just roll over, shrug, and say, “Well, people voted to trample on our rights. Guess we’re stuck with it.”

Yet it seems that a significant number of people really thought just that.

Now that the courts have ruled the measure unconstitutional, folks there are offering up their reactions.

An Oregon judge ruled Measure 114, the ballot initiative that demands stricter gun laws, “unconstitutional” Tuesday.

“It was great news that we were kind of pulling for because it was kind of a last hope for us,” said Bryan Mumford, owner of PDX Arsenal.

Mumford is a Portland native who provides concealed handgun licensing and live fire shooting training. He says the case in Harney County was one he followed closely.

“With Measure 114, from the beginning to the end, it was misleading,” Mumford said. “It was not organized; there were not the proper communications made to have this work.”

…

Judge Raschio explained in his ruling that the measure violates an Oregonian’s right to bear arms, particularly the section that would ban high-capacity magazines.

“The court finds that the large capacity magazine ban effectively bans all firearm magazines fixed or attached which is unconstitutional under any application of said law,” the decision reads.

Mumford agrees, claiming most magazines can be modified, which would make them illegal under the measure.

“For those who understand the anatomy of a handgun magazine, those base plates on those are removable to service them, clean them, replace springs,” Mumford said. “That means any magazine and all magazines that have a detachable base plate, those would not be allowed even at the 10-round limit.”

That, of course, is a significant issue because, as Mumford notes, that’s how magazines are made. Springs wear out, so they need to be replaced. But because they can be repaired, they can also be modified. Measure 114, however, makes them illegal despite being the actual standard way most magazines are built.

But not everyone is thrilled with the judge’s ruling.

Not by a long shot.

As for Lift Every Voice Oregon, proponents of Measure 114, they still believe Oregon voters want to see it implemented.

“Voters were clear that these life-saving policies should be the law in Oregon,” Rev. Mark Knutson said. “We know these policies have been upheld by courts in other states, and though we anticipated Judge Raschio would rule the way he did, we have been preparing for the appellate process for some time now.”

First, they were upheld in other states pre-Bruen. That’s an important distinction that they conveniently forgot to mention. Just because they survived then doesn’t mean they’ll survive now.

Second, what the voters want is, frankly, irrelevant. This is an issue of the right to keep and bear arms, and Measure 114 blatantly tramples on that right.

I wonder if Knutson would accept something like, “Voters were clear that these policies restricting the worship of religion to just the ancient Norse gods should be the law in Oregon” and just shrug and let it go or, as a reverend, would he stand up for his right to worship as he pleased?

I know where I would stand on that, and it’s just the same as I stand on the right to keep and bear arms.

Of course, the fight over Measure 114 is far from over, but I think folks like Knutson should get used to what they’re feeling right now.