OREGON, USA — The Oregon Court of Appeals Friday said it would not override an eastern Oregon judge's ruling that puts the state's gun control measure, Measure 114, on hold — at least, not right now.
The appeals court did agree, however, to speed up the time before it will hear arguments in the case.
Measure 114, if it did go into effect, would make Oregon's gun control laws among the strictest in the nation. It would require that prospective gun owners receive a permit before they can purchase a gun, preceded by a training course. The law would also ban the sale and manufacturing of gun magazines that hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition.
Measure 114 passed with just over 50% of voters in favor back in November 2022, but despite its passage, the law has never taken effect due to lawsuits at both the state and federal level.
After a circuit court judge in Harney County, Robert Raschio, ruled that the law could not take effect, the state took the case to the Oregon Court of Appeals. The state wanted the appeals case to allow the law to take effect now, while the legal case works its way through the system.
Ultimately the judges said no.
The Oregon Court of Appeals said it looked at four factors in deciding whether to do what the state wanted, which is called "granting a stay." Granting a stay would put Measure 114 into effect immediately, and the court said they can also use other facts to decide the issue.
Here are the four factors, as follows:
- The likelihood that the state would win its argument
- Whether the action the state wanted was taken in good faith and not for the purpose of a delay
- Whether there is any support in fact or in the law for what the state wanted
- The nature of the harm to the state or other parties, to other person and the public that will likely result from doing what the state wanted or not doing it
Point by point
First, would the appellant prevail? The Oregon Court of Appeals said each side had good arguments, so either side could win.
The court brushed the second and third points, since the state is not trying to delay but speed things up — and as they said back in in point number one, both sides have good arguments.
On point number four, the nature of harm, the state argued it has an interest in enforcing laws, especially those that promote public safety during an epidemic of violence. The court, however, was not buying it.
The court said the state could only point to speculative harm — in other words, their fear of a shooting — but that wasn't good enough.
Therefore, the Oregon Court of Appeals kept things as they are: Measure 114 remains on ice.
The appeals court also pointed out that Measure 114 is not currently enacted and has never been since it was passed in 2022, and that these stays typically are granted to support the status quo, not do the opposite.
What the state has requested would do the opposite, so the judges were persuaded that they should tell the state no and maintain the status quo with the law being kept on hold.
The Oregon Court of Appeals agreed to speed up hearing the full case, but speed is a relative term; the court set a deadline of 119 days from April 12 for the two sides to submit their legal arguments and responses.