KOIN.com

Temporary restraining order placed on new gun law, hours after federal judge cleared it

Amanda Arden

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – Hours after a federal judge denied motions requested for a temporary restraining order to be placed against Measure 114, a circuit court judge granted a temporary restraining order on the entire measure.

The debate is over a gun control law that Oregon voters passed in the November election. 

Federal Judge Karen Immergut made her decision Tuesday morning after hearing oral arguments Friday and receiving a letter Sunday night from Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum. At Tuesday’s hearing, she said she would decide whether to enact a temporary restraining order on the new law. 

So far, four lawsuits have been filed against the measure. 

Plaintiffs had filed a temporary restraining order request on Nov. 23 and asked the court to block all of Measure 114, including the large-capacity magazine restrictions and the permit requirements the law implemented. 

MORE COVERAGE: Oregon Association Chiefs of Police challenges Measure 114

FILE – In this Dec. 27, 2012, file photo, a variety of military-style semi-automatic rifles obtained during a buy back program are displayed at Los Angeles police headquarters. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned two lower court judges and upheld California’s ban on high-capacity magazines Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021, in a split decision that may be headed for the U.S. Supreme Court. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)
FILE – In this June 27, 2017, file photo, a semi-automatic rifle is displayed with a 25 shot magazine, left, and a 10 shot magazine, right, at a gun store in Elk Grove, Calif. A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has thrown out California’s ban on high-capacity ammunition magazines. The panel’s majority ruled Friday, Aug. 14, 2020, that the law banning magazines holding more than 10 bullets violates the constitutional right to bear firearms. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File)

The plaintiffs include the Oregon Firearms Federation, Sherman County Sheriff Brad Lohrey, Union County Sheriff Cody Bowen, Malheur County Sheriff Brian Wolfe and individuals Harold Richard Haden, Jr. and Adam Johnson. 

In order for the temporary restraining order to receive the court’s approval, the plaintiffs needed to demonstrate that they would suffer “immediate and irreparable harm” if the court did not block Measure 114 from taking effect on Dec. 8. 

In her order Tuesday morning, Judge Immergut stated that the “Plaintiffs have not produced sufficient evidence at this stage to demonstrate a likelihood of success on the merits of their challenge to Measure 114’s restrictions on large-capacity magazines.” 

She also said the plaintiffs have not shown that large-capacity magazines are weapons “‘in common use’… for lawful purposes like self defense” such that they fall within the plain text of the Second Amendment. 

Immergut denied the request for an injunction on Measure 114’s restrictions on large-capacity magazines and denied the plaintiff’s facial challenge to Measure 114’s permitting provision. A facial challenge is an argument that a law is unconstitutional as it is written.  

However, in response to the concerns Attorney General Rosenblum raised about the implementation of the permitting process required by Measure 114, the judge decided to allow an additional 30 days to develop the permitting process. 

Within hours of Immergut’s declaration, Harney County Circuit Court Judge Robert Raschio ordered that the defendants in a case against Measure 114, Gov. Kate Brown, Rosenblum, and Superintendent of the Oregon State Police Terri Davie, cannot enforce Measure 114 beginning on Dec. 8.

He said the measure will be temporarily restrained pending the hearing on the motion for the preliminary injunction. He said without the restraining order, the plaintiffs in the case will be deprived of their right to bear arms by being unable to legally purchase a firearm or use a magazine that’s capable of holding more than 10 rounds of ammunition.

Raschio made his decision based on a lawsuit filed by Gun Owners of America and the Gun Owners Foundation.

He ordered the defendants to show cause on Dec. 13, 2022. This means they’ll have an opportunity to make a case to end the temporary restraining order and prevent a preliminary injunction. If the state officials can’t make the case, the judge could grant an injunction that would remain in place until the lawsuit is settled.

Rosenblum made a request to postpone the implementation of the permitting process after local law enforcement offices told her they would not be able to process permit applications as soon as Dec. 8, when Measure 114 is scheduled to take effect. 

All this comes after Attorney General Rosenblum sent a letter to Judge Immergut Sunday night that said parts of Measure 114 should take effect as scheduled, including the process for applying for permits, the restrictions on large capacity magazines, and the requirement that background checks must be completed before firearms can be transferred.