Oregon: NRA Files Comments Against Firearm Ban Initiative

On May 8^th, the NRA filed comments with the Oregon Secretary of State opposing the misleading and inadequate ballot title prepared by the state Attorney General for Initiative Petition 43.  The Attorney General will now have until May 23^rd to review comments and certify a final ballot title for IP 43, which seeks to ban commonly owned semi-automatic firearms and standard capacity magazines.

Over 1000 pages of comments were received by the Oregon Secretary of State in opposition to the proposed ballot title. Thank you to all Second Amendment supporters that submitted written comments on IP43.  To view the comments submitted by NRA on behalf of our members, along with all other submitted comments and the proposed ballot title, click here.  

Initiative Petition 43, if passed, would ban semi-automatic firearms including rifles, pistols, and shotguns, which have certain listed aesthetic features.  Additionally, all standard capacity magazines and semi-automatic firearms with a fixed magazine holding more than 10 rounds of ammunition would be prohibited.  The proposal would require any person in legal possession of these firearms or magazines to sell, surrender, or remove the firearm from the state within 120 days of passage.  If eligible, a person could register the firearm or standard capacity magazine with the Oregon State Police, subject to a number of requirements.

This initiative attempts to brand these firearms as “assault weapons” to drum up unnecessary fear of their ownership.  In reality, these firearms are only being defined by aesthetic features that in no way affect the functionality of the firearm.  Semi-automatic firearms only fire one shot per action of the trigger, and such technology has been available to American consumers for more than a century.  Semi-automatic firearms and standard capacity magazines are commonly owned by law-abiding citizens for various purposes such as self-defense, recreation, competition, and hunting.

Once the ballot title is finalized, proponents of the initiative have until July 6^th to get 88,184 valid signatures to place this on the November ballot.

Your NRA-ILA will continue to keep you updated on the status of this initiative, so please stay tuned to your email inbox and www.nraila.org for further updates on this issue.