Commissioner alarmed by gun restrictions measure

The ease with which Oregonians can purchase firearms will be greatly diminished this fall if Measure 114 is approved by the voters.
Placed on the Nov. 8 ballot by citizen petition, Measure 114, otherwise referred to as the Changes to Firearm Ownership and Purchase Requirements Initiative, would require those seeking to buy a gun to first acquire a permit issued by local law enforcement to make the purchase.
The measure would also 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.
Measure 114 was brought to the attention of the Board of Josephine County Commissioners at its Aug. 31 weekly business session.
“As a gun owner my whole life, it sounds like an example of government overreach that I don’t think will be tolerated,” said Commissioner Dan DeYoung. “I hope it goes down in defeat, and gets defeated quite handily, but in the state of Oregon you never know.”
Lift Every Voice Oregon is the organization which championed the measure’s placement on ballot. 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.
According to Ballotpedia, chief petitioner Rev. Mark Knutson, a pastor at Augustana Lutheran Church in Portland, made these remarks in response to Measure 114 being put to the voters: “I hope it shows how residents in a state can come together from many directions and address the public health crisis of gun violence with common sense and well-put-together legislation. I hope that people are inspired to say: We can do this.”
Opposition to Measure 114 is being led by the National Rifle Association. In a statement, the NRA wrote: “”[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.”
Ballotpedia reports, “As of 2022, fourteen states and Washington, D.C. have enacted permit-to-purchase laws that vary by type of license and firearm purchased. Nine states and Washington, D.C. have enacted laws banning magazines capable of holding a certain number of rounds.”
California, Illinois, Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Jersey require permits for all types of firearms; Washington requires permits for semiautomatic rifles only; while Nebraska, Minnesota, Michigan and North Carolina are among the states that require permits for handguns only.