On Oct. 29, a lawyer for the Oregon Department of Justice asked the Oregon Court of Appeals to allow Measure 114, a gun control measure Oregon voters narrowly approved in 2022, to take effect.
Measure 114, currently stalled in court, would require a firearm safety course and a permit to purchase a firearm in Oregon. It also would ban the sale or transfer of magazines that hold more than 10 rounds and close the “Charleston Loophole,” which allows firearm dealers to release a firearm to a buyer after three days if their background check has not yet cleared.
The measure has been stalled in court because the plaintiffs, two Harney County gun owners, argue that it violates the Oregon State Constitution.
In oral arguments, Oregon Senior Assistant Attorney General Robert Koch called the current case stalling the measure a “facial challenge” of the constitutionality of Measure 114.
“It’s important to emphasize at the outset that this is a facial challenge to the constitutionality of Ballot Measure 114. Plaintiffs thus bear the heavy burden to show that the law cannot be constitutionally applied in any scenario,” Koch said in oral arguments. “Plaintiffs have failed to do so. That’s because under the law, Oregonians remain free to use magazines with a capacity of 10 or fewer rounds. Anyone with a permit can initiate a firearm transfer, and anyone whose background check has cleared is free to complete their firearm transfer.”
According to the recently decided Moody v. NetChoice Supreme Court case, facial challenges are harder to prove and have to be more unconstitutional than constitutional for a challenging party to win in court.
Attorney Tony L. Aiello Jr. represents the two Harney County gun owners who are holding the implementation of Measure 114 in court. He said that the measure is unconstitutional under Article I, Section 27 of the Oregon State Constitution because the measure is not aimed at any dangerous practices.
“Most laws are not like this law,” Aiello said in oral arguments. “They are specifically aimed at dangerous practices … that are recognized historically as dangerous, such as concealed carry … (or) firing (guns) within towns … they exclude self-defense as a matter of law.”
In an interview with the Emerald, Aiello said that Measure 114’s restrictions, like the high-capacity magazine ban, are a disproportionate response to the issue of mass shootings.
“The large capacity magazine ban is aimed at reducing mass shootings, which in our nation’s history, there have been 179 as testified to by [the state’s] expert at trial. Two of those have occurred in Oregon,” Aiello said. “So you’re restricting a lot of modern firearms … to address a problem that, while serious when it occurs, is a disproportionate response to that problem.”
Aiello said that in self-defense scenarios, particularly with animals, having as many rounds as possible is necessary.
“How many rounds would you like to have if you were facing three to four wolves? I would want to have as many as possible, as many as I can carry, to make sure I’m prepared for that self-defense scenario,” Aiello said.
University of Oregon Professor McKay Sohlberg said she supports Measure 114 and is disappointed that the measure is currently held up in court. Her husband died by firearm suicide in 2011. She said that the more comprehensive background check that Measure 114 would implement would have saved her husband’s life.
“My husband would have been here to walk my three daughters down the aisle with me,” Scholberg said. “He would have been able … to spend time with our three granddaughters.”
So far, there is no indication yet when the appellate justices will hold additional sessions on the case or issue an opinion. Until they or a higher court issue an injunction, Measure 114 cannot be implemented.
Editor’s note: On campus, the University Health Services provides free counseling for all students and an After-Hours Support and Crisis Line at 541-346-3227.
Off campus, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available via phone or text at 988 or online at 988lifeline.org.
