By Dave Workman
Editor-in-Chief
Oregon’s controversial gun control Measure 114 is still on ice as Harney County Circuit Judge Robert S. Raschio has once again ordered that the background check component of the measure cannot be separated from the permit-to-purchase provision.
In his order, Judge Raschio wrote, “The court declines to remove the background check provisions from the TRO (temporary restraining order) as the provisions are intertwined with the permit-to-purchase program and the court has made no final determination on constitutionality of the program.”
Earlier in his two-page order, the judge noted, “The language the defendants urge the court to use to sever is inexorably linked with the permit-to-purchase program. To find otherwise requires the court to ignore the operative language linking each provision on background checks to the permit-to-purchase program. The court would be separating sentences at commas and considering the phrase ‘permit holder’ surplusage. It is not surplusage. The court declines the defendants’ invitation to do so at this preliminary stage.”
There has been no determination about the constitutionality of any part of the measure, which was narrowly approved by Oregon voters on Nov. 8.
At the time he issued his first ruling in December, according to Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) Judge Raschio said if Measure 114 were allowed to take effect, it would violate the rights of Beaver State residents under the Oregon State Constitution. The Oregon constitution’s right to bear arms provision is straightforward: “The people shall have the right to bear arms for the defence (sic) of themselves, and the State, but the Military shall be kept in strict subordination to the civil power.”
Implementation of Measure 114 would leave Oregon citizens “unable to lawfully purchase a firearm or bear a magazine capable of holding more than 10 rounds of ammunition in the State of Oregon,” Judge Raschio said, later adding, “Deprivation of fundamental constitutional rights for any period constitutes irreparable harm,” according to the OPB report.
Kevin Starrett, founder of the Oregon Firearms Federation (OFF), said his organization is “very pleased” by Raschio’s new order, but he cautioned that “we are not out of the woods, yet.”
He expects the state to appeal Judge Raschio’s Tuesday order, and he is concerned the State Legislature, which convenes Tuesday, Jan. 17, may try to make changes which could “change the course of the lawsuits.”
In addition to the legal action in Judge Raschio’s court, there are four federal challenges to Measure 114. One was filed by OFF, two more by groups led by the Second Amendment Foundation, and one by the National Shooting Sports Foundation with the Oregon Shooting Sports Association, a state affiliate of the National Rifle Association.
According to OregonLive.com, after Measure 114 passed, “more than 85,000 requests for background checks” were received by the Oregon State Police in November. December saw another 43,000 requests through the 20th, the report added.
