PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Oregon’s new gun law would have gone into effect Thursday, but the rollout of Measure 114 is currently on hold.
A Harney County judge on Tuesday placed a temporary pause on the measure going through and now gun store owners are responding. Shop owners told KOIN 6 they are more confused than relieved with Measure 114’s temporary pause.
Chris Baumann owns Aloha Arms with his brother Dave. He said the most challenging part should Measure 114 be implemented is the interpretation of the law.
“The people who wrote it weren’t prepared to implement it,” said Baumann. “The people who allowed them to put it on the ballot weren’t prepared for them to implement it and there’s just too much up in the air about what will happen and when it will happen.”
Earlier this week, Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum asked the Oregon Supreme Court to intervene. Oregon’s high court rejected that request Wednesday evening, however.
According to Oregon State Police, there is a queue of more than 40,000 people waiting for background checks in order to purchase a firearm, something Baumann says has only made things more difficult in an already confusing time.
“A lot of customers are hearing that news and thinking they need to buy what they have been looking at. But they’re really hoping they can pass their background checks as there’s 36,000 people in the state waiting for their background checks to clear,” said Baumann.
To bypass this, other gun store managers have told KOIN 6 they will use the Charleston Loophole which allows the sale of a gun even without a successful background check. The Charleston Loophole allows the legal purchase of a gun if a background check takes more than 72 hours to complete.
A spokesperson for OSP told KOIN 6 Measure 114 does close the Charleston Loophole, however, the measure’s implementation is currently on hold due to the issued temporary restraining order.