By Dave Workman
Editor-in-Chief
The National Shooting Sports Foundation has entered the growing legal battle in Oregon over Measure 114, the voter-approved gun control initiative passed by a narrow margin last month.
NSSF filed its federal complaint Thursday in U.S. District Court in Portland, with support from the National Rifle Association, which is not named directly as a plaintiff.
However, NSSF is joined by Mazama Sporting Goods, the Oregon State Shooting Association (OSSA) and two individual gun owners, Tim Freeman and Katerina B. Eyre, for whom the lawsuit is named. OSSA is the NRA’s state affiliate organization.
Defendants are Oregon Attorney General Ellen F. Rosenblum and Oregon State Police Supt. Terri Davie. The case is known as Eyre v. Rosenblum.
According to NSSF’s Mark Oliva, the lawsuit is also being supported by Leupold & Stevens—the famous optics firm based in Beaverton, Ore.—and Radian Weapons, a firearms and components manufacturer based in Redmond, Ore. The plaintiffs are represented by attorney Shawn M. Lindsay at JurisLaw LLP in Lake Oswego, a Portland suburb.
NSSF Senior Vice President and General Counsel Larry Keane issued a blunt observation about Measure 114 in the organization’s announcement.
“Oregon’s Measure 114 is blatantly unconstitutional,” Keane stated. “The right to keep and bear arms begins with the ability of law-abiding citizens to be able to obtain a firearm through a lawful purchase at a firearm retailer. Oregon has created an impossible-to-navigate labyrinth that will achieve nothing except to deny Second Amendment rights to its citizens. The measure is an affront to civil liberties which belong to People, not to the state to grant on impossible and subjective criteria.”
The NSSF action is similar to lawsuits already filed by the Second Amendment Foundation and Firearms Policy Coalition, and by the Oregon Firearms Federation.
NRA’s Oregon State Director Aoibheann Cline explained the association’s supporting participation: “The deficiencies in this ballot measure cannot go unaddressed. Forget that it is scheduled to go into effect before Oregon even certifies the election, but it requires potential gun owners to take a class that has yet to be created, at a cost yet to be determined, so that they can obtain a permit that doesn’t actually give them permission to purchase a firearm. In reality, it’s nothing more than an attempt to stifle — if not outright prevent — the purchase of firearms throughout Oregon.”
In its announcement, NSSF noted, “Purchasers would be required to submit fingerprints and photos to the local sheriff, police chief or Oregon State Police before requesting that law enforcement authority conduct a criminal background check. Measure 114 sets no requirement or timeframe in which law enforcement must complete this check, who could endlessly delay permits. Measure 114 further allows for roadblocks by authorizing law enforcement to request any additional information determined necessary.
“That discretion to demand any additional information is in defiance of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Bruen decision,” NSSF continued. “Additionally, the Measure’s ban on magazines with a capacity exceeding 10 rounds would turn law-abiding citizens into criminals overnight, subjecting those who own standard magazines to unconstitutional confiscation schemes and imprisonment for up to 364 days and fines exceeding $6,000.”
Measure 114 is scheduled to take effect on Thursday, Dec. 8, which has necessitated the rush by various gun rights and industry organizations to file their legal actions so quickly.
Liberty Park Press has also learned there is a fourth lawsuit looming, also involving SAF, which could be filed shortly.
