PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — A major decision from an Oregon court Wednesday ruled local governments can’t declare themselves Second Amendment sanctuaries came as a huge blow to some gun rights advocates in Oregon.
The Oregon Court of Appeals voided an ordinance passed by Columbia County voters in 2020 that declared any rules about the use of guns to be a violation of the Second Amendment.
The court decided state laws like gun storage and background checks must be followed in Columbia County, despite the county declaring itself a “Second Amendment Sanctuary” and treating said laws as if they are invalid.
But state leaders say they’ll continue to fight similar ordinances in other counties.
“Each of these government bodies has some authority to regulate conduct,” said Tung Yin, a law professor with Lewis and Clark Law School. “What happens if there’s a conflict between how people in different levels of the government think things should be done?”
After the ruling, Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum issued a statement about the state’s gun safety laws, saying, “local ordinances declaring those measures to be unenforceable put people at unnecessary risk and they are illegal.”
She added the state’s Department of Justice “successfully fought these measures in three counties so far” and “will keep fighting them.”
Yin says it’s important to first look at how the laws work in the state and if they allow any leeway for counties and cities to set their own rules.
“At some level, does it make more sense to let the local governments–which maybe are more attuned to their constituents–set the rules which would govern that particular community,” said Yin.
The state DOJ recently fought similar measures in Yamhill and Harney counties that passed forms of pro-Second Amendment ordinances.
Yin says cases like these can be compared to the states and cities which went up against past federal immigration rulings during the Trump Administration, declaring themselves as “sanctuaries.”
The reason those cases are allowed is because of a precedent set in the U.S. Supreme Court case, Printz v. United States, which states that federal government can’t force states to enforce a federal program, impacting everything from immigration to marijuana laws to sports betting.
“This is, again, a lower level of government, one that is subordinate in a sense, saying, we don’t agree with you and we’re going to do something different.”
It’s still unclear if there are any court plans for rulings in other Oregon counties with Second Amendment ordinances and if counties across the U.S. could use this ruling as a national precedent.
KOIN 6 reached out to Columbia County officials to see if there are plans to petition the decision to the state Supreme Court but we did not get a response.