Gun Sales More Than Double as Oregon Residents Race to Get Ahead of New Controls

Gun sales more than doubled in Oregon with Ballot Measure 114 (BM 114) pending, and Oregon State Police are struggling to keep up with the demand for background checks.

KDRV reports that BM 114 passed by a margin of 50.9 percent to 49.1 percent, and will take effect December 8, 2022.

In the weeks leading up to the November 8 elections, Breitbart News pointed to a Bearing Arms report that BM 114 was being bankrolled by out-of-state money. The measure requires a permit, which costs $65, to purchase a gun. It also bans “high capacity” magazines and requires law enforcement to maintain a database of gun permit applicants, among other things.

The process for getting a gun permit under BM 114 includes submitting fingerprints and passing a gun safety course, KDRV notes.

OregonLive observes that thousands upon thousands of state residents are seeking to get ahead of BM 114’s effective date.

The week of October 30th Oregon state police “received 8,609 requests for gun background checks on prospective buyers.” The number of requests “more than doubled to 18,065” the next week, when elections took place.

The surge in demand has led to state police falling behind in completing universal background checks, so that only 63 percent of pending background check requests have been approved.

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and a Turning Point USA Ambassador. AWR Hawkins holds a PhD in Military History with a focus on the Vietnam War (brown water navy), U.S. Navy since Inception, the Civil War, and Early Modern Europe. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.