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QuickTake:
Supporters of Measure 114 are confident in their chances to defend the law despite some uncertainty over the viability of the law’s ban on high-capacity magazine.
Oregon voters approved one of the nation’s strictest gun control laws in 2022 — requiring firearm permits and banning magazines with more than 10 rounds of ammunition. The legal battle over the law, which has never been implemented, will reach Oregon’s highest court in less than two weeks.
But even after lawyers from both sides wrap up their arguments, the years-long battle may not be over.
A circuit court struck the law down in January 2024. Then in March, the Oregon Court of Appeals upheld the law, offering a win to the many faith-based and anti-gun violence activists behind the law, known as Measure 114.
The Oregon Supreme Court agreed in June to take up an appeal of the case and set oral arguments Nov. 6, while Oregon lawmakers moved earlier this year to pause implementation of the measure until March 2026 amid the legal wrangling.
Nationally, however, the U.S Supreme Court in recent years has taken the position of expanding gun rights. In a 2022 decision that found people have the right to carry guns in public for self-defense, the court’s conservative majority wrote that Second Amendment cases must consider “the nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.”
In the case of Oregon, legal experts are watching a California law banning high-capacity magazines that was petitioned to the U.S Supreme Court, which is expected to decide soon whether it will hear the case.
“That would have a much more immediate and on point impact on the Measure 114 litigation,” said Norman Williams, a professor of law at Willamette University.
Meanwhile, Oregon’s high-capacity magazine restrictions in Measure 114 also drew a federal challenge from the Canby-based Oregon Firearms Federation, though another gun rights group has led the charge in state court. The federation has contended the Oregon Supreme Court is biased against gun owners, warning that Measure 114 may make its way to the U.S. Supreme Court eventually.
Measure 114 supporters confident
Supporters of Measure 114 noted that Oregon’s law doesn’t require gun owners who own newly restricted magazines to return or destroy their violating firearms like California’s high-capacity ban does.
They point to studies showing a significant decrease in gun deaths because of such laws, as well as agreement among federal appeals courts that such bans are not considered violations of the Second Amendment.
“It’s constitutional to ban large capacity magazines. So the courts are on our side generally, and the consensus is consistent,” said Elizabeth McKanna, the chairwoman of Lift Every Voice Oregon, which wrote the 2022 ballot measure. “I mean, that’s one of the reasons we put it in, is because it seemed like it was generally accepted (and) held constitutional.”
McKanna is doubtful that California’s case will make it to the U.S. Supreme Court, which has declined to take up cases involving similar bans before. If the court were to strike down the law, however, she said the federal case involving Measure 114 could be go back to the district court to review.
“I’m probably more capable of tolerating that. Having been in the law for so long, it’s always ‘hurry up and wait,’” said McKanna, a retired attorney. “But for the thousands, the millions who voted for this, it’s frustrating.”
