Gun rights group sues to block Oregon gun control measure

The Oregon Firearms Federation has sued Oregon Gov. Kate Brown (D) and the state’s attorney general, alleging that a gun control measure narrowly approved by Oregon voters during the midterms — among the strictest restrictions nationwide — violates the Second Amendment. 

The new law, set to take effect next month, would require anyone looking to buy a firearm to first clear a handful of hurdles to obtain a police-issued purchase permit — and would ban the future sale and purchase of magazines capable of holding more than 10 rounds of ammunition.

The Oregon Firearms Federation, Sherman County Sheriff Brad Lohrey and a Marion County resident named Adam Lohrey argue in their suit against Brown and Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum (D) that the ammunition restriction encroaches on the Second Amendment, their right to due process and the Oregon Constitution

“Millions of law-abiding Americans own firearms equipped with magazines capable of holding more than 10 rounds of ammunition. There is nothing unusual or novel about this technology,” they say in the recent filing, shared by Oregon Public Broadcasting.

The group contends that high-capacity magazines are common in “many of the nation’s best-selling handguns and rifles” and that “in a confrontation with a violent attacker, having enough ammunition can be the difference between life and death.”

The permit requirements would only apply to purchases after the measure takes effect, and would not apply retroactively to Oregonians who already own guns.

The law outlaws possession of the high-capacity magazines with some exceptions, such as using them at shooting ranges, according to The Oregonian.

The lawsuit asks for a pause on the enforcement of the measure and calls on the court to declare it unconstitutional — or, if that’s not successful, to limit the part of the measure that bans magazines with more than 10 rounds of ammunition.

Democrats and gun safety groups have praised the Oregon measure as a move toward stricter gun control.

The Democrat Coalition heralded the measure’s passage, saying the rules “will reduce gun violence and save lives – let’s pass more of them across the country!”

March For Our Lives, a gun control advocacy group founded by student survivors of the 2018 school shooting in Parkland, Fla., also lauded the move.

“We can decidedly say that young people and the gun safety movement scored BIG in this election,” the group wrote after Election Day.