By BRYCE DOLE/Oregon Public Broadcasting
SALEM — The Oregon Legislature has voted to ban rapid-fire devices and give local governments new authority to prohibit people from carrying a concealed handgun into certain public buildings.
Meanwhile, another bill that aimed to bolster the state’s firearm regulatory network appears to have died.
House lawmakers passed Senate Bill 243, called the Community Safety Firearms Act, following a contentious gun safety debate Wednesday night. Democrats passed the bill in a 33-10 vote while Republicans voted against it. The bill has already passed the Senate.
The bill would ban rapid-fire accessories like bump stocks that can effectively turn semi-automatic weapons fully automatic. Possessing a rapid-fire device would be a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail. Transporting or manufacturing one would be a Class B felony, which can carry a maximum penalty of up to 10 years in prison.
It would also allow local governments to pass policies prohibiting people with a concealed handgun license from carrying a gun into certain public buildings.
“A governing body that adopts such policy must post a clearly visible sign at all normal points of entry to the building and grounds and post a notice on the governing body’s website,” the bill says.
The bill also sets the implementation date for Measure 114, the voter-approved law passed in 2022 that bans purchases of magazines that hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition and requires a permit before buying a gun.
In March, the Oregon Court of Appeals ruled that the voter-approved Measure 114 does not violate the state constitution. Barring further legal challenges, the law is effective March 15, 2026.
Democrats and advocates for stricter gun laws and regulations argued collectively the restrictions could help curb firearm fatalities and mass shootings in Oregon.
“I am mystified that we can’t keep in our head all the shootings that have happened in our country and our state,” said Rep. Jason Kropf, D-Bend, who listed the locations of high-profile shootings: “Clackamas Town Center. Umpqua Community College. Bend Safeway. Parkland. Sandy Hook. They bled together in our mind because they’re commonplace. Commonplace. That’s an indictment on all of us.”
Just before Wednesday’s vote, another major gun bill was referred back to a legislative committee. House Bill 3076 would have initiated a state licensing program for gun dealers within the Oregon Department of Justice.
In a statement Wednesday night, House Republicans credited Leader Christine Drazan, R-Canby, for “killing” the bill. A spokesperson for Drazan said she did not have further details Wednesday night.
“I will always stand up for Oregonians’ constitutional rights, and their right to keep themselves and their families safe,” said Drazan. “HB 3076 was an extreme bill that would have harmed small businesses in rural communities, low-income communities and communities of color the most. All Oregonians are entitled to exercise their Second Amendment rights, regardless of their zip code, income, or race.”
Wednesday’s debate highlighted the simmering discussion around how best to prevent gun deaths that spiked 40% in Oregon from 2001 to 2023, according to public health research. The state’s fatality rate in 2023 topped the nation’s by 7% and was 22% higher than Washington’s and 74% higher than California’s.
Rep. Dacia Grayber, D-Portland, said guns equipped with rapid-fire accessories have been used in homicides in her district.
“I can tell you firsthand how reckless, dangerous and just horrible these particular devices are,” said Grayber. “They’re having a real impact on my community every day.”
A firefighter paramedic, Grayber spoke about how her own experiences with gun violence in her professional and personal life, including the death of her own stepdaughter, who died by suicide.
“I believe that when we take steps, when we use evidence-based policy to save one life, that life is so worth it,” said Grayber.
Republicans and gun rights advocates decried the bill as an encroachment upon their constitutional rights to bear arms that risks deepening the divide between urban and rural communities, where guns are commonplace. They said Oregon lawmakers are taking the wrong approach to curbing gun deaths while placing gun owners unnecessarily at risk of punishment.
“Trust me, I know what it’s like to be fearful, to go into PTSD, all those other things that go on,” said Rep. Jeff Helfrich, R-Hood River, who recalled responding as a police officer to the Clackamas Town Center shooting in 2012, when a gunman opened fire on shoppers, killing two people and himself. “This bill does not make people safer. This bill punishes law-abiding citizens.”
Critics noted the bill doesn’t address the statewide mental health problems that lead to shootings and suicides, the leading cause of firearm fatality in the state. In addition, they voiced concerns about local governments creating a “patchwork” of concealed carry rules that could confuse and potentially harm law-abiding gun owners.
“It’s not the tool that makes people violent,” said Rep. Mark Owens, R-Crane, who blamed mental illness as a core reason behind gun violence. “It’s not the tool that kills people. Once again we’re taking away the rights of the safest members of our communities, those that have a (concealed handgun license).”
House lawmakers amended Senate Bill 243, so it will need to return for a vote in the Senate. A third reading in the chamber is scheduled for Friday.
- This story originally appeared June 26, 2025 on Oregon Public Broadcasting.
“Only a good guy with a gun can stop a bad guy with a gun.”
Really? Maybe a good guy should take a gun away from an armed customer in a convenience store or a pharmacy. How are we supposed to know who’s a good guy? Let’s just keep guns out of some spaces.
The Federal Government has already declared these laws unconstitutional as other states tried to do the same thing. People don’t use “bump stocks” to commit suicide! Helfrich may have showed up at the Clackamas Town Center after the shooting but records showed the shooter took his own life when confronted with a man that had a concealed handgun license and displayed the weapon to the shooter. Criminals don’t follow laws and these laws potentially make criminals out of law biding citizens.