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03.13.2023
As you know, Oregon's Supreme Court has, for now, upheld an injunction against Ballot Measure 114, the unconstitutional gun grab funded by out of state millionaires.
A Judge in Harney County concurred with Gun Owners of America that Mz 114 was almost certainly unlawful and blocked it in its entirety.
Two efforts by Oregon's anti-Second Amendment Department of Justice to overturn the injunctions failed.
To be clear, the Oregon Supreme Court has not declared Mz 114 unconstitutional and has not ruled out implementing it in the future. They simply said it would be premature to intervene as the case moved through the Oregon Courts. So while for the moment, gun owners and gun dealers are not being subjected to criminal penalties for engaging in lawful and constitutionally protected activities, gun owners are still very much at risk.
While a State Court has put 114 on hold, a Federal Judge reached the exact opposite conclusion, and in spite of a clear precedent from the US Supreme Court, concluded that the State of Oregon could, in fact, ban commonly owned arms (standard magazines) and impose a permit to purchase system that was custom made for abuse. She did place a temporary hold on the permitting system but made it clear that even that system could go into effect soon. Keep in mind, even the state has admitted that currently the mandated system is impossible to implement. We can assure you it will continue to be impossible well after the deadline set by the Federal Judge.
The Federal Judge also allowed Oregon to crush the one small safeguard built into both Oregon and Federal law that allows a qualified person to take possession of a firearm if the Oregon State Police simply do not do their job and complete a background check in a timely manner.
As is well known, thousands of people have essentially been denied their 2nd Amendment rights for absurd amounts of time due to the OSP's not conducting or completing background checks. An "instant background check" that takes two years or more is clearly not allowed under the plain language of the Second Amendment.
That brings us to where we are now.
At the moment, gun owners are somewhat protected by the State Judge's injunction though thousands are still being denied their rights due to the inaction of the Oregon State Police. However, the Oregon Department of Justice, and its militantly anti-gun Attorney General, have made it quite clear that they will do all they can to force the implementation of Mz 114 and its unconstitutional and extreme restrictions on civil rights.
The next step in the Federal Lawsuit would have been a hearing on a "preliminary injunction" against 114. Basically the Federal version of the injunction we now have on a state level.
Because the Oregon Supreme Court refused to overturn the state injunction, the Federal Judge has decided that she will bypass that step in Federal Court and move directly to a full trial on the constitutionality of the measure. The State will also have their own version of this trial.
We are quite confident that if the Second Amendment is upheld in the State Court, it will be appealed to the Oregon Supreme Court again and sooner or later the issue will wind up in Federal Court, which is where OFF's lawsuit is now.
As we have pointed out before, changes to the law made by the legislature, and other pending cases in Federal Courts, could change everything in ways we cannot predict at this time. But for now, we have no choice but to move ahead with the Federal lawsuit.
Right now we anticipate that the full trial in Federal Court will happen some time in June. If we prevail there, you can rest assured the Oregon DOJ will appeal it to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. It is simply impossible to imagine the party that rules Oregon will allow a pro-gun ruling to go unchallenged, as long as they have a limitless supply of your money and lawyers to spend attacking the Second Amendment.
Make no mistake, this measure will be found unconstitutional. In case after case across the country, the Second Amendment is winning. But the power brokers in Oregon don't care about that. They will continue to spend millions of your tax dollars in the hopes of pushing through whatever restrictions they think they can get away with for as long as possible.
But, as you well know, unlike the State, we don't have an endless supply of taxpayer's money.
The legal team representing us is as dedicated to this victory as every one of you are. They have largely put aside other obligations to concentrate on protecting our rights, and we are fortunate to have them. But there is no denying this is an expensive fight.
So many of you have been amazingly generous in supporting our efforts. We cannot thank you enough personally. But we are still facing staggering costs that the State seems determined to keep adding to in hopes of bankrupting us out of the fight.
But we are committed to winning this battle.
Please consider the most generous tax deductible donation you can. Across the country the enemies of the Second Amendment are losing. But with unlimited funds taken from taxpayers, they see nothing to lose by dragging these fights out.
We cannot back down. Donations to the Oregon Firearms Educational Foundation are tax deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law. And every dime is crucial in this critical battle for our rights, common sense and the future and safety of our state.
You can donate securely online here. https://oregonfirearms.ejoinme.org/MyPages/DonationPage/tabid/70447/Default.aspx
Thank you for your support and generosity.
You can view this post in a browser here: https://www.oregonfirearms.org/114-lawsuit-update
Kevin
OFF
As you know, Oregon's Supreme Court has, for now, upheld an injunction against Ballot Measure 114, the unconstitutional gun grab funded by out of state millionaires.
A Judge in Harney County concurred with Gun Owners of America that Mz 114 was almost certainly unlawful and blocked it in its entirety.
Two efforts by Oregon's anti-Second Amendment Department of Justice to overturn the injunctions failed.
To be clear, the Oregon Supreme Court has not declared Mz 114 unconstitutional and has not ruled out implementing it in the future. They simply said it would be premature to intervene as the case moved through the Oregon Courts. So while for the moment, gun owners and gun dealers are not being subjected to criminal penalties for engaging in lawful and constitutionally protected activities, gun owners are still very much at risk.
While a State Court has put 114 on hold, a Federal Judge reached the exact opposite conclusion, and in spite of a clear precedent from the US Supreme Court, concluded that the State of Oregon could, in fact, ban commonly owned arms (standard magazines) and impose a permit to purchase system that was custom made for abuse. She did place a temporary hold on the permitting system but made it clear that even that system could go into effect soon. Keep in mind, even the state has admitted that currently the mandated system is impossible to implement. We can assure you it will continue to be impossible well after the deadline set by the Federal Judge.
The Federal Judge also allowed Oregon to crush the one small safeguard built into both Oregon and Federal law that allows a qualified person to take possession of a firearm if the Oregon State Police simply do not do their job and complete a background check in a timely manner.
As is well known, thousands of people have essentially been denied their 2nd Amendment rights for absurd amounts of time due to the OSP's not conducting or completing background checks. An "instant background check" that takes two years or more is clearly not allowed under the plain language of the Second Amendment.
That brings us to where we are now.
At the moment, gun owners are somewhat protected by the State Judge's injunction though thousands are still being denied their rights due to the inaction of the Oregon State Police. However, the Oregon Department of Justice, and its militantly anti-gun Attorney General, have made it quite clear that they will do all they can to force the implementation of Mz 114 and its unconstitutional and extreme restrictions on civil rights.
The next step in the Federal Lawsuit would have been a hearing on a "preliminary injunction" against 114. Basically the Federal version of the injunction we now have on a state level.
Because the Oregon Supreme Court refused to overturn the state injunction, the Federal Judge has decided that she will bypass that step in Federal Court and move directly to a full trial on the constitutionality of the measure. The State will also have their own version of this trial.
We are quite confident that if the Second Amendment is upheld in the State Court, it will be appealed to the Oregon Supreme Court again and sooner or later the issue will wind up in Federal Court, which is where OFF's lawsuit is now.
As we have pointed out before, changes to the law made by the legislature, and other pending cases in Federal Courts, could change everything in ways we cannot predict at this time. But for now, we have no choice but to move ahead with the Federal lawsuit.
Right now we anticipate that the full trial in Federal Court will happen some time in June. If we prevail there, you can rest assured the Oregon DOJ will appeal it to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. It is simply impossible to imagine the party that rules Oregon will allow a pro-gun ruling to go unchallenged, as long as they have a limitless supply of your money and lawyers to spend attacking the Second Amendment.
Make no mistake, this measure will be found unconstitutional. In case after case across the country, the Second Amendment is winning. But the power brokers in Oregon don't care about that. They will continue to spend millions of your tax dollars in the hopes of pushing through whatever restrictions they think they can get away with for as long as possible.
But, as you well know, unlike the State, we don't have an endless supply of taxpayer's money.
The legal team representing us is as dedicated to this victory as every one of you are. They have largely put aside other obligations to concentrate on protecting our rights, and we are fortunate to have them. But there is no denying this is an expensive fight.
So many of you have been amazingly generous in supporting our efforts. We cannot thank you enough personally. But we are still facing staggering costs that the State seems determined to keep adding to in hopes of bankrupting us out of the fight.
But we are committed to winning this battle.
Please consider the most generous tax deductible donation you can. Across the country the enemies of the Second Amendment are losing. But with unlimited funds taken from taxpayers, they see nothing to lose by dragging these fights out.
We cannot back down. Donations to the Oregon Firearms Educational Foundation are tax deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law. And every dime is crucial in this critical battle for our rights, common sense and the future and safety of our state.
You can donate securely online here. https://oregonfirearms.ejoinme.org/MyPages/DonationPage/tabid/70447/Default.aspx
Thank you for your support and generosity.
You can view this post in a browser here: https://www.oregonfirearms.org/114-lawsuit-update
Kevin
OFF
