NRA Fights Anti-Gun and Mag Ban Initiatives in Oregon

This week the NRA filed legal challenges against Initiative Petition 61 and Initiative Petition 62, which severely restrict and regulates commonly-owned firearms (and magazines), making it more difficult for law-abiding citizens to exercise their Second Amendment rights.

NRA previously filed a legal challenge against Initiative Petition 60 last Friday. The legal challenges assert that the ballot titles violate Oregon law (ORS 250.035) by not alerting voters of the changes in the law proposed in the measures.

Initiative Petition 60 would enact the separate aims of two related measures, Oregon Regulation of Firearms Initiative (Initiative #61) and Oregon Regulation of Ammunition Initiative (Initiative #62). Initiative #61 would regulate certain firearms, and Initiative #62 would restrict the sale, purchase, and transfer of ammunition magazines that contain more than 10 rounds.

Initiative Petition 61 restricts many commonly-owned semi-automatic firearms it deems as “assault” firearms based on cosmetic features that do not fundamentally change how they operate. In addition this petition bans certain rifle sales to young adults 18-20. The NRA states: “Semi-automatic firearms fire only one shot per action of the trigger, have been available to American consumers for over a century, and are used by law-abiding citizens for a wide range of legitimate purposes. It will become more difficult for law-abiding citizens to exercise their Second Amendment rights as this initiative imposes a mandatory waiting period, training requirement, and redundant background check before law-abiding citizens can take possession of the affected firearms.”

Initiative Petition 62 bans any magazines with a capacity greater than ten rounds of ammunition. The NRA notes: “Magazines that hold more than ten rounds are standard equipment for commonly-owned firearms that many Americans legally and effectively use for an entire range of legitimate purposes, such as self-defense or competition. While citizens who own banned magazines prior to the effective date are ‘grandfathered’ and are allowed to retain them, the restrictions make them unusable for self-defense. Pre-ban magazines may not be loaded into a firearm during transport and are subject to one-size-fits-all storage requirements.”

NOTE: The sponsor of these anti-gun initiatives, the left-wing Lift Every Voice Oregon, attempted to place similar initiatives on the ballot in 2018 but failed due to legal challenges to the inadequate and deceptive summaries provided on the ballot.