Judge Blocks “Most Extreme” Gun Control Law In United States

On Tuesday, an Oregon judge blocked the state from enforcing a voter-approved law dubbed the nation’s “most extreme” gun control measure by critics, ruling it violates the state constitution.

Harney County Judge Robert Raschio has issued a ruling permanently blocking Measure 114, Oregon's controversial gun control law, from going into effect. The ruling may be appealed and the case may eventually go to the Oregon Supreme Court. https://t.co/eazzFqBe1l

— KEZI 9 NEWS (@KEZI9) November 21, 2023

Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum immediately vowed to appeal the ruling, which could eventually end up before the state Supreme Court.

From Fox News:

“The Harney County judge’s ruling is wrong,” Rosenblum said in a statement provided to Fox News. “Worse, it needlessly puts Oregonians’ lives at risk.”

Oregonians passed Measure 114 one year ago with 50.65% of the vote and just six of the state’s 36 counties supporting it. The law requires a permit to purchase any gun, bans the sale of magazines capable of holding more than 10 rounds and has been called “the nation’s most extreme gun control Initiative” by groups like the NRA’s legislative arm.

Measure 114 never took effect due to immediate legal challenges at both the federal and state level.

On Tuesday, Circuit Judge Robert S. Raschio ruled both the magazine ban and permit-to-purchase requirement violate Article 1, Section 27 of Oregon’s constitution, which reads in part, “the people shall have the right to bear arms for the defence [sic] of themselves, and the State.”

ADVERTISEMENT

🚨BREAKING: Measure 114, Oregon’s radical gun law, has been ruled unconstitutional by a Harney County, Oregon judge.

The State of Oregon will most likely appeal the decision in the appellate courts.

👇🏽Thank you, Judge Robert S. Raschio! pic.twitter.com/YY3PULz5Rv

— David Medina 🦫🇺🇸 (@davidmedinaofa) November 21, 2023

Much of the state’s case focused on which firearms were common at the time Oregon ratified its constitution in 1857. History professors testified for the state that firearms capable of holding many rounds were “vanishingly rare,” according to Oregon Public Broadcasting.

“Semiautomatic technology and automatic technology are such profound ruptures in the history of firearms technology, that I find it very difficult to believe that anybody — even someone very well informed — in the late 1850s could have predicted the emergence of smokeless powder, detachable cartridges, automatic reloading,” said Bryan DeLay of the University of California, Berkeley.

But Ashley Hlebinsky, a former firearm museum curator, testified for the plaintiffs that many early guns could fire multiple rounds and that some models with magazine-style devices existed around the time Oregon became a state.

Raschio ruled that large capacity magazines were available in the early 1800s and that gunsmiths were actively trying to improve upon the technology.

“The idea that Oregon’s pioneers intended to freeze the firearm technology accessible by Oregonians to antiques is ridiculous on its face,” Aiello told Fox News on Wednesday. “If there is any evidence of such an intention, Defendants certainly did not present any of it at trial.”