By: José Niño
On July 14, 2023, Federal District Judge Karin Immergut issued a ruling upholding voter initiative Measure 114’s prohibition on large-capacity magazines and permit requirement for individuals to purchase a firearm. In her ruling, Immergut stated that this law did not infringe on the Second Amendment.
“As explained below, Plaintiffs have not shown that the Second Amendment protects large-capacity magazines, defined as magazines capable of firing eleven or more rounds without reloading,” Judge Immergut declared in Oregon Firearms Federation v. Kotek. “And even if the Second Amendment were to protect large-capacity magazines, this Court finds that Defendants and Intervenor-Defendant have established that Oregon’s restrictions on the use and possession of large-capacity magazines are consistent with the Nation’s history and tradition of firearm regulation.”
Immergut’s ruling comes at a time when scores of gun control laws are being struck down as unconstitutional following the Supreme Court’s landmark New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen ruling in the summer of 2022. Bruen’s ruling has compelled lower courts to analyze gun control regulations by turning to the historical tradition of such laws that go back to the early days of the Republic.
Ironically, Immergut was an appointee of former President Donald Trump. She didn’t find any issue with both the permit-to-purchase mandate and the large-capacity magazine prohibition.
“This Court also finds that the text of Oregon’s permit-to-purchase framework is consistent with the type of regulations that the United States Supreme Court has deemed constitutional under the Second Amendment,” she declared.
Measure 114 was passed in November 2022 by a razor-thin margin of 50.65% to 49.35%. This voter initiative requires Oregon residents to apply for a handgun permit, pass several background checks, submit fingerprints, ID, and proof of firearm training, in addition to paying a $65 fee prior to purchasing a gun. On top of that, it prohibits the sale of ammunition magazines capable of holding over 10 rounds. Law enforcement and military use of said accessories are exempt.
Judge Immergut’s argument was focused on assertions concerning the necessity of large-capacity magazines, and the notion that technological progress since the Founding Era have made new regulations reasonable propositions.
“While Bruen’s test for Second Amendment challenges is grounded in history and tradition, Bruen also acknowledged that modern regulations may implicate either ‘unprecedented societal concerns’ or ‘dramatic technological changes’ different from those that existed at the Second Amendment’s ratification in 1791 or at the Fourteenth Amendment’s ratification in 1868,” she wrote in the opinion.
Dudley Brown, the president of the National Association for Gun Rights, shared his perspective on this ruling:
“There is no permit requirement for firearms in the Second Amendment. There also aren’t any restrictions on ammunition magazines. This Judge has mangled the Constitution, her ruling is a joke, and she should be overturned sooner rather than later.”
Oregon is a state where gun rights go to die. It’s currently ranked in 36th place according to Guns & Ammo magazine. As a result, in any given year, gun owners can expect their gun rights to be chipped away at with ease.
At this point, only legal action can push gun control back in de facto one-party states in the US. If worse comes to worst, Oregon gun owners will simply have to move to more pro-gun red states. That’s the cold, hard reality of living in a blue state in 2023 and beyond.
José Niño is a freelance writer based in Austin, Texas. Contact him via Facebook, Twitter, or email him at [email protected]. Get his e-book, The 10 Myths of Gun Control, here.