A convoluted anti-gun ballot initiative that barely squeaked past voters last month is already the target of a lawsuit on grounds it violates the Second Amendment.
Oregon's Measure 114 passed with only 50.66 percent of the final ballots by a margin of just 25,000 votes. Only approved in seven of the state's counties-- largely the progressive strongholds of Portland and Eugene-- the 12-page initiative includes a raft of changes to the state's gun laws including a prohibition on magazines capable of holding more than 10 rounds. It is this facet that has been met this week with a federal lawsuit.
"As we immediately explain in our lawsuit, the State of Oregon has criminalized one of the most common and important means by which its citizens can exercise their fundamental right of self-defense," explained Adam Kraut, the executive director of the Second Amendment Foundation, one of the plaintiffs in the case. "By banning the manufacture, importation, possession, use, purchase, sale, or transfer of standard-capacity magazines that can hold more than 10 rounds the State has barred law-abiding, peaceable residents from legally acquiring or possessing common ammunition magazines and deprived them of an effective means of self-defense."
Joining SAF in the legal action are G4 Archery, Grayguns, Inc., the Firearms Policy Coalition and a private citizen, Mark Fitz. Named as defendants are Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum and State Police Supt. Terri Davie.
Measure 114 had the backing of super blue organizations such as Oregon Progressive Party, League of Women Voters of Oregon, and Oregon Alliance for Gun Safety, raising over $2.7 million in contributions-- including big donations from anti-gun groups Everytown and Giffords. Besides the magazine ban, it also institutes a mandatory permit-to-purchase scheme in which potential gun buyers would have to pay up to $65 to law enforcement, submit their photo and fingerprints for a background check, and show completion of an approved firearm training course before being allowed to buy a gun.
Set to go into effect as early as Dec. 8, some fear that legal gun sales in Oregon will come to a screeching halt as state police rush to create the gun permit system out of thin air and with no funding.
Gun Industry Denounces 114
The National Shooting Sports Foundation, whose members span the American firearms industry, is also looking to take on Measure 114.
"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," said NSSF in an 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."
Meanwhile, high-end optics maker Leupold, whose factory and headquarters are located just outside of Portland in Beaverton, is siding with NSSF, and has announced full support for the trade group's upcoming legal challenge to the measure.
"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, Leupold's President and CEO. "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."
Banner image: An FN Mk3 Five-SeveN pistol with a 20-round standard capacity magazine-- an endangered species-- and an Oregon-made Leupold Delta Point Pro 6 MOA micro red dot sight. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)
