Voters in Oregon will get to decide Tuesday on the nation's only statewide ballot measure on gun control.
The initiative, Oregon Measure 114, has been called the nation’s “most extreme” by gun rights supporters, according to NBC News. It requires people to obtain permits and complete safety training to acquire a firearm. It also bans high-capacity magazines and calls for state police to create and maintain a searchable database of gun ownership.
Supporters have said the measure is necessary to reduce gun injuries and deaths.
The referendum would prohibit ammunition magazines capable of holding more than 10 rounds. At least nine states and the District of Columbia have enacted laws banning magazines capable of holding a certain number of rounds, and 14 states and D.C. have passed various permit-to-purchase laws, according to Ballotpedia, an election tracking organization.
If the measure passes, permit seekers would have to complete an approved safety course, pass a criminal background check, pay a fee of up to $65, and submit an application to the state police. A permit would be valid for five years.
KGW-TV in Portland, Oregon’s largest city, said polling by Nelson Research of Salem, Oregon, said 49.4% of 577 likely Oregon voters opposed the measure, with 46.1% in favor and 4.5% undecided. The margin for error was +/- 4.1%.
Gun rights supporters argued the proposal is unconstitutional. NBC News said the NRA-Institute for Legislative Action said it is “the nation’s most extreme gun control initiative.” Others said the requirement will be too expensive to implement and will burden understaffed law enforcement agencies.
Proponents of the measure disagreed.
“The Second Amendment is not under threat, but we are,” Ari Freilich, the state policy director at the Giffords Law Center, a gun-control advocacy group, told NBC News. "We are not powerless. We can choose to act.”
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