The Oregon Department of Justice is asking a district judge to temporarily block the permit-to-purchase requirement contained in recently passed Ballot Measure 114 (BM 114).
BM 114 is a multi-faceted gun control package that passed with 50.65 percent of the vote on November 8, 2022. The measure bans ammunition magazines holding more than ten rounds and requires Oregon residents to get a permit before being allowed to purchase a gun.
The permit will cost $65, which means the price of a $500 pistol immediately equates to $565.
BM 114 tasks law enforcement with the burden of issuing the permits, and some individuals in law enforcement are concerned that the process for issuing the permits could destroy office budgets and/or tie up needed personnel.
On October 25, 2022, Breitbart News reported Oregon’s Clatsop County Sheriff Matt Phillips worried the permit requirement could be a budget wrecker for smaller police departments that lack the manpower to handle permit issuance, renewal, and other aspects of Measure 114.
Gun sales more than doubled in Oregon with Ballot Measure 114 (BM 114) pending, and Oregon State Police are struggling to keep up with the demand for background checks. https://t.co/fZrtiWGlu5
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) November 19, 2022
BM 114’s permitting requirement is scheduled to go into effect on December 8, 2022, a date which caused angst for Eugene Police Chief Chris Skinner,
KGW8 quoted Skinner saying, “When the December 8 deadline was communicated to us, I think we all collectively panicked. As chiefs, this is about trying to put together a really robust, understandable, simple, consistent and equitable process for people — and we’re not in a space where we’re going to meet that deadline.”
The Oregon DOJ is asking a district court judge to temporarily block the permit requirement, while allowing all other aspects of BM 114 to take effect.
The Oregon DOJ is requesting two additional months before the permit system goes into effect, in hopes that the two months will be enough time for law enforcement to get ready.
