U.S.A. –-(AmmoLand.com)- Oregon gun owners are entering a bare-knuckles political battle whose outcome will determine whether their right to bear arms becomes a strictly-regulated privilege as they fight to defeat Ballot Measure 114 in November.
It’s a bare-bones effort with something of a loosely organized army of activists that appears to be growing in numbers, but the main question is whether they will be able to generate enough momentum to get people from Gresham to Grants Pass and Pacific City to Pendleton to actually vote. What’s at stake is massive, as spelled out at Ballotpedia. If the measure passes, it will:
- Require permits issued by local law enforcement to buy a firearm;
- Require photo ID, fingerprints, safety training, criminal background check, and fee payment to apply for a permit; and
- Prohibit manufacturing, importing, purchasing, selling, possessing, using, or transferring ammunition magazines capable of holding more than 10 rounds and make violations a class A misdemeanor.
As explained on their website by the Stop 114 PAC, “The measure requires a ‘class’ with live fire training before a person can apply for a permit to purchase a firearm. There are virtually no facilities that will be available for this training. For first-time gun buyers, this could well require that you have a gun before you can get a permit to buy a gun.
“No matter where you stand on guns,” the website notes, “the simple fact is someday, somewhere you may have to protect yourself. And you cannot rely on the police. Under Ballot Measure 114, you could literally wait forever for permission to purchase a home defense firearm.”
Some activists also warn the measure, if passed, “is almost sure to have a negative impact on minorities both racial and ethnic.”
Stop114 was “created…specifically to fight this extreme and dangerous measure,” by the Oregon Firearms Federation (OFF). The organization insists the measure is unconstitutional.
The Stop 114 group’s website includes statements from several opponents to the measure, including county sheriffs and private citizens.
OFF head Kevin Starrett recently noted via telephone, “The biggest issue is making people aware of it.” He has spoken “to people all over the state—sheriffs and police—and they didn’t know about it.”
That must change, say opponents of the ballot measure, and activists using the Northwest Firearms forum to coordinate their efforts are spreading the word. One member of that forum, John McDonnell, told Ammoland News via email he will be manning a table at the Albany Gun Show Sept. 24-25, distributing handouts and encouraging gun owners to vote. The show is sponsored by the Albany Rifle and Pistol Club. Albany is about 90 minutes south of Portland via I-5.
But this is just a single gun show, and activists such as McDonnell realize they have a monumental task ahead, with limited resources.
The National Rifle Association’s Institute for Legislative Action has alerted its Oregon members to oppose the measure.
As reported by Ballotpedia:
“Lift Every Voice Oregon is leading the campaign in support of Measure 114. The initiative has been endorsed by the Oregon Progressive Party, Oregon Nurses Association, League of Women Voters of Oregon, and Oregon Alliance for Gun Safety.”
The measure is opposed by the National Rifle Association, and Ballotpedia quoted the NRA Institute for Legislative Action, which said Measure 114 “is yet another anti-gun ballot initiative that seeks to further erode Second Amendment rights in Oregon. It imposes a permit requirement in order to exercise the Second Amendment right to acquire a firearm …The permit application process includes a one-size-fits-all training mandate, a subjective mental health review that is ripe for abuse, submission of fingerprints, and payment of a fee – up to $65 to apply, and up to $50 to renew. Issuing authorities have up to 30 days to issue permits to qualified applicants and they must be renewed every five years. Meanwhile, criminals will continue obtaining their firearms illegally.”
The recent U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen may nullify the permit-to-purchase requirement, but Beaver State gun owners are in no mood to wait and find out. They want to stop the measure in its tracks.
The Oregon State Constitution states, “The people shall have the right to bear arms for the defence (sic) of themselves, and the State, but the Military shall be kept in strict subordination to the civil power.”
About Dave Workman
Dave Workman is a senior editor at TheGunMag.com and Liberty Park Press, author of multiple books on the Right to Keep & Bear Arms, and formerly an NRA-certified firearms instructor.
I had always thought there was a limit as to how stupid people could be, now I know for sure stupidity has no bounds
Stupidity gets REAL popular when dirty money feeds them.
Exhibit One, most of the politicians in power these days, and ALL the bleeding heart special interest antigun groups, Giffie, Mad Mamas, all the Soros dweebs, DieFie, and Pugliugly as well.
The second amendment is a right that does not require a permission slip . This will not fly the SCOTUS will shoot this unconstitutional crap down and send gun grabbing liberals back to thier basements in tears .
How many years, even decades, will pass before they do? How many people will be impacted by such an unconstitutional “law” until SCOTUS even considers hearing a case? How many people will die in the intervening years such unconstitutional “law” survives on the books? How many people will consider this the norm and create backlash legislative demands when such unconstitutional “law” is shut down after years on the book? No, SCOTUS is not the answer for any of the unconstitutional “laws” considered by the states through their initiative process. The public can stand against this. The question is, will they?… Read more »
Just a note for you all: The Harris/Biden team has already confirmed more federal judges than Trump. The judiciary is going fully Progressive New Left (Marxist). So if we can no longer hold fair elections, no longer depend upon courts, no longer have majorities in legislatures who support and defend the Constitution how long to you think it will take for the country to descend in to civil war?
Those judges could be purged by the Impeachment process.
The balkanization of America is well underway and has been for at least 25 years! The only thing that’s ongoing now, is the continued separation between big city metropolitan mindsets versus rural mindsets! I just got through watching interviews with predominantly black citizens of Memphis tennessee, and they still support Biden not blaming him one bit for any of the economic woes they were whining about! Sadly, the white Memphis citizens were echoing the same sentiment, which leads me back to the old Axiom: “You can’t fix stupid!” You could point to the historical evidence proving that gas was about… Read more »
SCOTUS may be the answer, but turning to SCOTUS indicates multiple failures have already occurred. Our rights have many lines of defense and SCOTUS is second to last defensive line – meaning all others have already been overrun. Being older and wanting my savings to have value in retirement – the last line of defense does not bare contemplation. Of course given consequences of going there would mean I’ve nothing left to lose and would act accordingly.
I HOPE you are correct! I do NOT TRUST the “judicial system” at all!
We have a legal system, it sometime fails at being a judicial system.
I completely agree about the gun-grabbing liberals, but not all of them are in favor of that. It’s mostly urban people, and even some conservatives.
I’m a rural progressive – definitely not a liberal – and I live in a Nevada town that the cops won’t even visit. Like my conservative neighbors, I intend to keep my guns.
So in other words they have taken it upon themselves to rewrite the Constitution & their State Constitution ? Or they have at least shown NEITHER to be of any importance. Just as all States have done to a point. Imagine that.
That is exactly the point. New Left Progressives reject the founding principles of our nation and our Constitution. They will use the liberties protected by that very Constitution to destroy the same. Good reading: Prairie Fire Manifesto of 1974. That is the game plan of the Progressive New Left in America.
Why do “progressives” tend to believe that the police will protect them?!? I’m a progressive, and I know better than that! I live in a rural town in Nevada, McGill, and the county cops won’t even come here. We have that in common with some big-city neighborhoods. Fortunately, we don’t need the cops very often, since we’re a town full of dogs and guns. For those of you who are “conservatives”, know that some progressives are on the same side when it comes to weapons. The urban liberals must leave our guns alone! I hope that Oregon defeats this abominable… Read more »
You might want to do some research in to the definition of the term “Progressive.” First and foremost, classical Progressives a la TR and Woodrow Wilson are a rare breed today. But they share in common these threads: belief in the governing power of the administrative state vice the individual; belief in ‘science’ and human reason to resolve all human problems; disbelief in the vast majority of the population to direct the terms of their lives and finally, ‘science’ based population control imposed on the majority of the population who they find repugnant or unneeded. That is the Progressive platform.… Read more »
I don’t think that it is so much progressive versus liberal, or Repub versus democrat. Voting maps seem to indicate that the issue is rural and the values that go with that versus urban and the culture that goes with that. I could be wrong. Oh, and welcome to the site.
The DemoKKKrat NAZI PARTY in Maryland ALREADY have these INFRINGEMENT “requirements”! They have even gotten Home Made Weapons(AR10 & 15 lower receivers) OUTLAWED on March of 2023!
Not to worry. If this passes government will supply guns to the criminal element as they did in Fast and Furious. After all, criminals always take care of their own.
If we can get enough people to vote no on 114, we can stop it in it’s tracks. To do that, people need to get involved and do something. Cheerleading is great, but we need for people to get off the bench and into the game. If you’re in Oregon and can pass out flyers and talk to people, let me know at [email protected] and I’ll send you the flyer so you can make copies. If you’re not in Oregon and want to help, donate to the OFF-PAC at https://stop114.com/ We need money for paying gun show fees to hand… Read more »