By BEN BOTKIN/Oregon Capital Chronicle
The Oregon Supreme Court has declined to intervene and block a Harney County judge’s order that temporarily stops a voter-approved firearms measure from going into effect Thursday.
The state Supreme Court’s order will keep Measure 114 from taking effect as litigation around the measure proceeds in court.
Without the Harney County judicial order and Supreme Court’s decision, the measure would have banned the sale of high-capacity firearms magazines with more than 10 rounds starting today. It would also have and put a permit system in place for firearm purchases that requires buyers to undergo a training course with a law- enforcement-certified instructor.
The one-page decision, signed by Chief Justice Martha Walters, came late Wednesday in response to a request from the Oregon Department of Justice to overrule the Harney County decision. The state Supreme Court’s denial doesn’t give any insights as to the legal reasoning behind the decision.
It’s the latest in a series of quickly-moving legal activities and decisions around Measure 114 in the past week as its implementation date approached. he measure will not go into effect today, but lawsuits – and a potential resolution – will continue in the future.
“If you’re wondering about the legal status of Measure 114, the law’s enforcement is (we hope temporarily) on hold by the state courts,” Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum said in a tweet Thursday. “There is a hearing in Harney County next week and we will continue to defend the constitutionality of this voter-passed gun safety law.”
The measure, approved by voters in November, has drawn widespread opposition from firearms owners and dealers, as well as law enforcement agencies who said they could not meet all the requirements of the new permit system by today’s deadline.
The measure has already drawn several lawsuits from firearms advocacy groups, owners, firearms dealers and others.
In the Harney County complaint filed last week, the plaintiffs include Gun Owners of America, based in Virginia, and a related organization, the Gun Owners Foundation, along with Joseph Arnold and Cliff Asmussen, two Harney County firearms owners. Gun Owners of America says on its website it has more than 2 million members and lobbies for firearms owners to exercise the “right to keep and bear arms without compromise.”
In a separate federal lawsuit challenging the measure, the Oregon Department of Justice asked a judge to delay the implementation of the permitting system, but allow other parts, like the ban on high-capacity magazine sales, to continue. That’s because law enforcement agencies have said they won’t have a permit system in place that meets all the new law’s requirements by today’s deadline.
U.S. District Court Judge Karin Immergut granted the state justice department’s request this week, allowing the ban on high-capacity magazine sales but delaying the permit requirement for 30 days. The Oregon Firearms Federation is the lead plaintiff in the federal case, along with firearms dealers and others.
Separately, Oregon State Police Superintendent Terri Davie updated lawmakers on Wednesday about the permitting process in a hearing of the Senate Interim Judiciary Committee. Oregon State Police are responsible for devising the permit program.
Davie said the agency will have a webpage that will go live on Thursday with a permit form for applicants.
With the law currently on hold, purchasers fill out a form while the FBI runs a background check. They have to be done in three business days under the current law. If not, the purchase goes through, and some gun shops appear to be pushing that message to drum up more sales. The new measure seeks to close the loophole that allows purchases to go through if there’s no answer within three business days.
The state police agency is working with local police to sort out the requirements of the measure, Davie said.
Some of that work, like technology for a new system needed for the permit data, will take years to develop and build out, the agency has said.
For now, the state police are is using “other means,” including Excel spreadsheets to maintain the personal information of applicants, Davie said.
Davie said police agencies will need to send applicant fingerprint information by mail or courier to the state police agency, which it sends to the FBI for background checks.
- Oregon Capital Chronicle is a nonprofit Salem-based news service that focuses its reporting on Oregon state government, politics and policy.
A not very well thought out unfunded mandate.