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Oregon voters enacted a strong gun safety ballot initiative in 2022 and the state has meaningfully reformed its gun laws in recent years. Oregon’s laws are still generally weaker than its neighbors in CA and WA, however.

In recent years, Oregon has acted to strengthen its gun safety laws by enacting an extreme risk protection law, strengthening protections for victims of domestic violence, investing in community violence intervention programs, and requiring safe storage of firearms around children. In November 2022, Oregon voters also enacted a gun safety ballot initiative that strengthened background check and licensing processes, restricted large-capacity magazines, and promoted law enforcement efforts to investigate and recover firearms from people who become disqualified from owning them.

In 2022, Oregon had the twenty-first lowest gun death rate among the states. In an average year, 600 people die from gun violence in the state. That means someone dies from gun violence every 15 hours. Seventy-eight percent of those deaths are gun suicides, and 18% are gun homicides. In Oregon, the rate of gun deaths increased 31% from 2013 to 2022, compared to a 36% increase nationwide.

What Oregon Does Well

  • Universal background checks
  • Licensing
  • Extreme risk protection orders
  • Certain domestic violence gun laws
  • Large capacity magazine restrictions
  • Investments in violence intervention programs
  • Ghost gun law

What Oregon Is Missing

  • Assault weapon restrictions
  • Strong concealed carry standards
  • Open carry regulations
  • Victims’ access to justice law
  • Minimum age
  • Strong gun trafficking laws
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SPOTLIGHT

GUN LAW SCORECARD

The data is clear: states with stronger gun laws have less gun violence. See how your state compares in our annual ranking.

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