Sales of firearms with high-capacity magazines like these — and sales of the magazines themselves — would be illegal in Oregon under Measure 114, which passed but is tied up in court.

Now that Oregon has passed one of the nation’s most restrictive gun control laws, Grant County residents may be wondering: What does it mean for me?

Maybe nothing, if a lawsuit filed in federal court is successful.

If the suit fails, however, the new law could mean an end to the sale of some types of firearms in the state, the creation of a new registration database and permit system, and long waits to buy guns while the permit system is being set up.

Measure 114, also known as the Reduction of Gun Violence Act, passed by less than a 2% margin in the Nov. 8 election.

The law limits the number of rounds a magazine can hold to 10 and requires almost everybody who acquires a firearm to first obtain a purchase permit, whether the gun is gifted, loaned, leased or bought.

Purchase permits will be issued by local law enforcement agencies for a fee of $65 and will require a background check and the completion of a firearms training course. The measure also requires the police to maintain an electronic database of all permits, whether active, expired or revoked.

Supporters of Measure 114 say the initiative was introduced in reaction to numerous mass shootings over the years and that public safety is the sole priority of the new law.

But opponents say the measure is unconstitutional and will only make it harder for law-abiding citizens to defend themselves against criminals.

The measure is already being challenged in court by the Oregon Firearms Federation with the support of the Sherman County sheriff and a Marion County gun store owner. The suit, which seeks to have the new law overturned on constitutional grounds, also asks the court for an injunction to block the measure from taking effect.

Measure 114 is scheduled to come into force on Dec. 8.

What does it do?

Measure 114 makes a purchase permit a requirement before a firearm can be transferred in nearly all instances. The measure defines a transfer as the delivery of a firearm from one person to another, including the sale, gift, loan or lease of the firearm.

Cases where a purchase permit is not required are rare and generally involve either transfers of weapons from an individual to the police or military or the transfer of a firearm to a spouse, domestic partner or immediate family member.

The measure also outlaws the manufacture, sale, possession and importation of any magazine that accepts more than 10 rounds of ammunition as well as their use anywhere but on the owner’s property or at a shooting range.

That provision would impact sales of AR-15-style rifles, a popular class of firearm produced by multiple manufacturers. Many AR-15 models come standard with 30-round magazines.

High-capacity magazines that were purchased prior to the effective date of the bill will be exempted from the ban, according to Section 11(5)(a).

Also exempted from the ban are large-capacity magazines that have been permanently altered to hold no more than 10 rounds. Attached tubular ammunition-feeding devices on .22-caliber rimfire rifles and lever-action firearms are also not restricted to 10 rounds, according to Section 11 (1), (A), (B) and (C) of the measure.

Penalties for failing to follow the guidelines set forth in Measure 114 vary from a Class A misdemeanor to Class B and C felonies for repeat offenses.

Hoping to save lives

The Rev. Mark Knutson, pastor of Augustana Lutheran Church in Portland, was one of the leading advocates behind Measure 114.

Knutson is a member of Lift Every Voice, an interfaith group seeking to reduce gun violence. The group arose following the deadly Pulse nightclub shooting in 2016 in Orlando, Florida, which led to the deaths of 46 people.

The work of crafting the measure began with a group of around 60 individuals from across the state, according to Knutson. The group looked across the nation for gun measures that work and that have stood up to constitutional challenges.

The “legislative team,” a collection of retired lawyers and others with specialized skills selected from the larger group, wrote the Oregon measure.

“They crafted it from some of the best things around the country,” Knutson said.

Knutson has heard the constitutional concerns surrounding the measure and wants to assure people that the main objective in crafting the bill was to improve public safety and not to restrict people’s rights.

“Everything in this bill is proven to save lives. That’s what this is all about,” he said.

“It’s not meant to take anybody’s gun away,” he added. “Nobody is going to have their guns taken away. If you already own large-capacity magazines, you keep them.”

Knutson also noted that the purchase permit program in the measure is modeled after the state concealed weapons permit program, which is already in use.

When asked about the concerns rural law enforcement agencies have that implementing the measure will further strain their already limited resources, Knutson said he and his group will work with local sheriff’s offices to make sure they have the capacity to make the system work.

“We would never want to see the sheriff sitting there without the resources they need to do it properly and do it well and not put others at risk,” he said.

Knutson stressed that he doesn’t see the passage of Measure 114 as a victory over the gun lobby but rather a victory for the youth and future of Oregon. At the core of Lift Every Voice’s decision to take action was a religious obligation, he said.

Because love is at the core of every religious discipline in the world, Knutson thinks that love should guide the decisions of those who practice their faith. “If you love your neighbor, but your neighbor is being hurt or harmed, you need to do something,” he said.

Bad for business

The Outdoorsman, an outfitter’s shop in Ontario, has been selling firearms for over 80 years. Owner Julie Clark and managers Ron Smallwood and Jeremiah Hartman say Measure 114 is a poorly conceived law that will strip Oregonians of fundamental rights and could put retailers like them out of business.

“I think there’s a lot of stupid people out there who vote away their constitutional rights,” Smallwood said. “With the permits that are being required for firearms and nothing set up for them to issue permits at this time, (the new law) is basically going to shut down firearms sales.”

All three are in agreement that Measure 114 won’t make a difference in combating gun violence and will only make it harder for law-abiding citizens to defend themselves against criminals, who don’t care what the law does or does not say.

The Outdoorsman sells everything you would need for your firearm, including magazines which hold more than the 10 rounds allowed by the measure. The passage of 114 means that those magazines and potentially other firearm sale operations will have to move across the Snake River into Idaho, where gun laws are less restrictive.

The Outdoorsman has been a fixture in Ontario’s business scene for decades. Despite that, Hartman said the business may have to move to Idaho to keep its doors open.

“They’re leaving us no choice. We pretty much have to move to Idaho for the survival of our business,” Hartman said.

The group said there have been a lot of threats to their business model over the years, but Measure 114 represents the most significant one that they can remember.

Caught in the middle

Grant County Sheriff Todd McKinley said he doesn’t believe the law is constitutionally valid but that his office would use its discretion in deciding how to enforce it.

Concerns are numerous for McKinley. His office would have to implement a database for all the purchase permits and square up all the logistics to provide live fire training to all potential gun owners in the county — something McKinley doesn’t think he has the resources to accomplish.

“There are 7,100 citizens in the county,” the sheriff said. “If half of them want to get their permit, that’s 3,500 people. That’s a lot of people to train to get permits in a short amount of time so they can go exercise their constitutional rights. It’s going to be expensive, and we do not have the funding to do that.”

Aside from the financial concerns, McKinley said he has constitutional concerns with the bill as well. “I feel it is completely unconstitutional, because it actually enacts basically Nazi Germany-type gun registration,” he said.

The stated goal of the measure misses the mark, added McKinley, who doesn’t see criminals following any type of gun regulations in their pursuit to obtain firearms.

“It’s a useless measure,” he said. “It did nothing but enable an element, and this one is just criminalizing people further that are otherwise law-abiding.”

Despite those concerns, McKinley said his office will have to comply with the permit process so Grant County citizens can exercise their constitutional rights to keep and bear arms.

“We are not in favor of it at all, my office isn’t, but in order to keep people’s constitutional rights alive to be able to purchase firearms if the permit process comes about, that’s what we have to do,” he said. “We’re going to have to do it. I may have to pull staff off of patrol to help assist in that process, which will further make us shorthanded.”

1. Mandates a purchase permit, which includes a criminal background check and live fire training, before obtaining a firearm in most circumstances.

2. Bans the sale, manufacture, importation, use, purchase or other transfer of any large-capacity magazine (holding more than 10 rounds) in Oregon after the effective date of the measure.

3. Exceptions to the purchase permit requirement include the transfer of a firearm to a spouse or domestic partner, parent or stepparent, child or stepchild, sibling, grandparent, grandchild, aunt or uncle, first cousin, niece or nephew, and the transfer of a firearm in the event of the death of a firearm owner provided the transfer is conducted by a personal representative or a trustee of a trust created in a will.

4. High-capacity magazines purchased before the measure’s enactment date are legal but can’t be used anywhere but on private property or at a gun range. Attached tubular magazines for .22 rifles and lever-action rifles are also exempted.

5. Failing to comply with permit requirements is a Class A misdemeanor. A previous conviction of failing to comply with permit requirements raises a second offense to a Class B felony.

6. Being in possession of an unlawful high-capacity magazine after the measure’s enactment is a Class A misdemeanor.

7. Failure to comply with permit requirements at gun shows is a Class A misdemeanor. Two previous convictions raises a third offense to a Class C felony.

8. Police departments and sheriff’s offices are required to keep and maintain a database of all purchase permits, whether active, inactive or revoked.