MILWAUKEE, Ore. – Every morning before the gun shop opens, a line forms outside the doors of Northwest Armory. Cars spill out of the parking lot into the plantings and narrow side streets, drivers ignoring the “no parking” signs.
“It’s just been chaos in here,” manager Jenna Williams told Fox News on Wednesday, a day before Oregon’s strict gun law took effect. “They just want to get things before they take them away.”
A customer looks at a rifle at Northwest Armory in Milwaukee, Oregon, Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2022.
(Hannah Rae Lambert/)
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Measure 114 passed last month with 50.65% of the vote and was set to take effect on Thursday. It bans magazines that can hold more than 10 rounds, requires a permit for any firearm purchase, and closes the so-called “Charleston loophole,” which allows gun transfers to continue unless background checks are completed quickly. federal rule that provides.
Court orders issued this week have delayed the legislation for now.
District Court Judge Karin J. Immergut ruled Tuesday morning that the permissive portion of the measure should be delayed for 30 days, while allowing the rest of the gun control to proceed. But three hours later, Harney County Circuit Judge Robert S. Raschio issued a temporary restraining order on the entire measure, writing that if the law goes into effect, the plaintiffs would lose their rights under the Oregon Constitution.
“Even with a vote, you can’t take away constitutional rights,” said Sam Paredes, a spokesman for Gun Owners of America, the nonprofit group that filed the Harney County case. “The Bill of Rights cannot be repealed.”
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Because the Harney County case challenged the measure under the state constitution, it is separate from the Immergut decision, It was reported by the Oregonian. Raschio set a hearing on the preliminary injunction for next week. Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum has asked the state Supreme Court to intervene, citing “dangers to life and death” if the law does not go into effect, but its appeal was denied Wednesday.
Amid all the confusion, gun sales in Oregon have reached “unprecedented” levels, according to state police.
“When people feel their Second Amendment rights are being threatened, the first thing they do — and it’s the smartest thing they do — is to go out and make sure they have all the firearms they could possibly need or want. is to create,” said Paredes.
Williams estimates that at least 100 firearms are checked out at his store a day, with more customers coming in to buy magazines or other accessories.
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Police and sheriff’s departments say they don’t have the resources or manpower to take on the law’s permit-to-purchase requirement, which includes hands-on training. If the law goes into effect on Dec. 8, police said all gun sales will be halted.
“We encourage everyone to go to your local gun store and purchase firearms, ammunition and magazines,” Paredes said. “Now is the time to do it.”
As of Tuesday afternoon, Northwest Armory customers asking for updates on the 114th quarter or wondering if they’ll clear during background checks — the statewide queue was more than 35,000 people , the staff said.
“Everybody has questions and nobody has answers,” Williams said. “There’s a lot of chaos out there.”
Paredes, who looked at the nation’s state of Oregon, said America’s gun owners are warning policymakers across the country.
“We will seek every opportunity we can through the legal system to overturn any sponsored gun control legislation across the country,” he said.
Ramiro Vargas contributed the accompanying video.