SALEM, Ore. — A waiting and vetting period would be baked into gun purchases in Oregon if a measure on the November statewide ballot passes.
If voters approve the measure Nov. 8, buying a gun would first involve the potential purchaser obtaining a permit, which requires a number of steps supporters of the initiative say would save lives. The measure also bans large-capacity gun magazines.
The ballot measure is aimed at saving lives from suicide — in Oregon, 82 percent of gun deaths are suicides — mass shootings and other gun violence.
The gun-safety initiative gained momentum after mass shootings in Uvalde, Texas, and Buffalo, N.Y., with more volunteers joining the effort, which was led by interfaith leaders.
“We’re making a strong, strong push, and the coalition is just growing by the day,” said the Rev. Mark Knutson, one of the chief petitioners.
He said volunteers are going door to door, erecting lawn signs and reaching out to voters by phone.
Former Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot in the head in a mass shooting in 2011 that killed six people, said bringing gun-safety initiatives straight to voters is important because “our political leaders fail to act.”
“Mass shootings have become increasingly frequent,” Giffords wrote in the Oregon voters’ pamphlet. “We can choose to vote and make a difference.”
She leads Giffords, an organization dedicated to saving lives from gun violence. The group donated $100,000 to the Oregon effort, according to Ballotpedia.
Opponents say the measure would infringe on constitutionally protected gun rights.
It would create “a costly bureaucratic nightmare to make firearms ownership difficult for some, and nearly impossible for many,” said Kerry Spurgin, president of the Oregon State Shooting Association.
The measure would require a permit to purchase any gun. To qualify for a permit, valid for five years, an applicant would need to complete an approved firearm safety course, pay a fee, provide personal information, submit to fingerprinting and photographing, and pass a criminal background check. It would also ban magazines that hold over 10 rounds, except for current owners, law enforcement and the military.
The state police would create a firearms database. Applicants would apply for the permit from the local police chief, the county sheriff or their designees.
Among those opposing the measure is the Portland chapter of the Socialist Rifle Association, a left-wing gun group that aims “to combat the toxic, right-wing, and exclusionary firearm culture in place today.”
“Law enforcement should not be responsible for deciding who is allowed to be armed, especially when they have a long and recent history of oppressing marginalized groups,” the chapter wrote in the voters’ pamphlet.
Those in support include the state affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers, the Oregon Medical Association and the Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon.
