Oregon House Passes Gun Bill Bolstering Measure 114 Over Republicans’ Data Privacy Concerns

By Shaanth Nanguneri

(Oregon Capital Chronicle) -- The Oregon House on Wednesday moved to strengthen some of the nation’s strictest state-level firearm safety provisions narrowly enacted by Oregon voters in 2022, after a tense dispute during a committee hearing over the bill brought the chamber to a standstill on Monday.

Along with banning magazines with more than 10 rounds of ammunition, Measure 114 required completed background checks, permits and firearm safety training before purchasing guns. But the law still hasn’t taken effect because it promptly drew legal challenges in both state and federal courts. 

House Bill 4145 would serve as a roadmap for rolling that measure out. It would give authorities 60 instead of the current 30 days required to either issue a permit or provide a written denial, and it would exempt background checks and permit application information from public records requests. The bill would also increase maximum permit renewal fees the state is allowed to collect from $50 to $110, while pushing back implementation of the permit requirement until 2028. 

The bill passed in a 33-19 vote along mostly party lines after an emotional debate among lawmakers, who shared dueling stories of defending themselves with firearms and losing loved ones to gun violence. One dissenting Democrat, Rep. Paul Evans, a Monmouth Democrat and veteran, objected to establishing a permitting process for the constitutionally-established right to bear arms. Another Democrat in opposition, Rep. Farrah Chaichi, D-Beaverton, has previously raised concerns about the increased fees’ impact on low-income and rural Oregonians, as well as the bill’s exemption of law enforcement from the high-capacity magazine ban.

Rep. Dacia Grayber, a Portland Democrat and chief sponsor of the legislation, told lawmakers that she would fight for legislation that “makes a difference for one family listening today.” She appeared to hold back tears as she spoke about the suicide of her adult stepdaughter last year.

“She wasn’t a criminal, she was a law-abiding citizen,” she said. “She was in counseling, and she was able, legally, to go to a gun range, and that day purchase a firearm and end her life.”

The proposed legislation requires officers conducting permit background checks to check fingerprints of applicants through state databases and then submit a request for review through the FBI. The bill directs Oregon law enforcement to request that the FBI return fingerprint cards after it completes its background checks.

Republicans on Wednesday were unable to gather enough votes to send the bill back to the House Judiciary Committee for further consideration. Their pushback, however, marked a rare instance of the minority party in Salem raising concerns about the federal government’s handling of sensitive information while they are opposing Democrats’ legislation seeking to safeguard protections for Oregonians without permanent legal immigration status.

“I’m a Republican. I don’t even join you guys in most of the anti-federal government legislation that’s coming out because it’s politically expedient. But on this one, I agree,” Rep. Alek Skarlatos, R-Winston, told his colleagues. “We shouldn’t be just handing over the records of thousands of Oregonians to the federal government for no reason.”

Democrats have characterized the bill as a slew of technical fixes to implement Measure 114 and carry out the will of voters, pointing to studies showing a correlation between permit-to-purchase laws in other states and fewer instances of gun violence. 

“It does not replace the will of the voters,” Rep. Sarah Finger McDonald, D-Corvallis, said. “It operationalizes it, it clarifies it and it ensures that when Measure 114 is implemented, it will function in a way that is workable, constitutional and fair.”

Rep. Bobby Levy, R-Echo, said the bill creates barriers for lawful firearm owners while raising concerns about affordability for increased permit fees. She doubted that criminals with guns would follow the bill’s provisions, adding that requiring legal challenges against the bill to commence in Marion County Circuit Court would harm rural Oregonians like her eastern Oregon constituents. Supporters of Measure 114 have criticized opponents for filing their state lawsuit in conservative Harney County, a move they derided as “judge shopping.” 

“When you more than double the cost of the permit, you do not stop crime,” Levy told her colleagues. “You simply create a wider gap for those who can afford to comply and those who cannot.”

Wounds linger from committee dispute over feds

Opponents on Wednesday framed the bill as an unconstitutional effort to usurp the 2nd Amendment being rammed through by the majority party after a tense exchange between Rep. Rep. Thủy ​Trần, D-Portland, and House Judiciary Committee Chair Rep. Jason Kropf, D-Bend. 

Democrats on Monday had sought to distance Kropf, a sponsor of the bill and a vocal gun control advocate who kicked into action legislating on the issue after a 2022 mass shooting in Bend, from the legislation. Trần and a gun rights advocate had previously accused Kropf of fomenting a hostile environment during committee deliberations over the bill last week, and he was no longer listed alongside Grayber as a chief sponsor of the legislation as of Monday. 

Trần, a gun owner and lieutenant colonel in the Oregon National Guard, had raised concerns about how the federal government would handle diverse gun owners’ information and voted against an amendment to the bill. Kropf immediately sighed and called the meeting to a pause, averting a potential tie that would have prevented an amendment from passing. The lawmakers returned to the hearing after speaking outside the committee room, and Trần went on to change her position to a yes. 

She said she had been informed of federal regulations that ensure the FBI destroys information from background checks within 24 hours. The rule applies to cases in which an applicant is successfully cleared with no disqualifying information. 

But the pair’s exchange outside the committee room prompted gun rights advocate Derek LeBlanc, who observed their interactions, to file a legislative conduct complaint alleging Kropf, who chairs the House Judiciary Committee, verbally abused and intimidated Trần. LeBlanc told the Salem Statesman Journal that the Legislative Equity Office dismissed his complaint. The office has declined to provide further information on its investigation, citing an exemption from public records requests during the legislative session.

Trần later told reporters that Kropf created a hostile environment, alleging that his “management of events did create confusion, suspicion and distrust in the Democratic process.” Kropf has maintained that he respects Trần and that it’s common for tensions to be running high, particularly for issues such as gun safety.

Lawmakers agreed Monday to accept Kropf’s resignation from his chairmanship on the House Conduct Committee, which could review his dispute with Trần. House Republicans had walked out of the chamber on Monday ahead of a vote on the legislation, accusing Democrats of sweeping ​Trần’s concerns under the rug. They have not staged another walkout since, though Rep. Greg Smith, R-Heppner, skipped Wednesday’s gun debate and vote to protest the bill.

Under the bill, the Oregon State Police would also be allowed to retain criminal history information from a background check for up to five years. Oregon is already among 15 states where state law enforcement act as an intermediary between gun sellers and the Federal Bureau of Investigation for background checks. The bill would require permit applicants to go through local law enforcement agencies and require them to take a training course for gun safety. 

​Trần, a gun owner and lieutenant colonel in the Oregon National Guard, acknowledged on Wednesday the concerns she had which prompted her conflict with Kropf, pointing to a “very different relationship with the federal government today.” But she voted in favor of the bill, referencing an airman at an Air National Guard Base in Portland who died by suicide using a firearm.

“I’ve spoken to you before about the risk of suicide for veterans, and I will continue to fight for support for them,” she told her colleagues. “If this bill saves even one life, it will be worth it.”

Under the proposed legislation, gun leaders and manufacturers who are licensed to operate in the state would have 180 days to dispose of their large capacity magazines if the Oregon Supreme Court upholds the gun law. The ban on high-capacity magazines would not apply to law enforcement officers, regardless of whether they acquired the firearm on or off the job. 

The bill’s passage follows increased action in Salem taking on gun violence in the past year. In the 2025 legislative session, Democrats passed a law banning rapid-fire devices like bump stocks and empowering local governments to stop concealed carrying in public buildings. That measure, however, pushed back implementation of Measure 114 to March 2026, when lawmakers hoped there would be more clarity over the ballot measure’s viability.

That hasn’t happened yet. While a federal judge ruled in 2023 that the law is allowed under the U.S. Constitution, an Eastern Oregon Circuit Court judge blocked it from taking effect in late 2022 and determined it was unconstitutional in November 2023. The Oregon Court of Appeals disagreed with that Harney County judge’s ruling, and the state Supreme Court will determine whether the circuit judge or appeals court came to the right conclusion. Justices heard arguments in November over the ballot measure, though they have yet to issue a ruling.

And on the federal level, a legal challenge to California’s law banning high-capacity magazines has sat for months on the U.S. Supreme Court’s docket for potential consideration, spelling uncertainty for the similar ban in Measure 114.