In November 2022, Oregon voters passed Ballot Measure 114 , titled the “Reduction of Gun Violence Act,” which (among other things) enacted strong new limitations on large-capacity ammunition magazines.
As a result of this ballot measure, Oregon law now generally prohibits the manufacture, importation, possession, use, purchase, sale, and transfer of large-capacity magazines that are capable of holding more than 10 rounds of ammunition.1 The law provides certain exemptions (or affirmative defenses) to this restriction, particularly to allow for continued possession and use of legacy magazines by people who already owned them prior to the effective date of the ballot measure if they maintain the magazines in their possession or control, or by people who inherit these magazines upon the death of a lawful owner, provided these individuals only possess legacy large capacity magazines in specified circumstances (such as on their private property, or while engaged in lawful hunting or target shooting activities, on the premises of a licensed gun dealer or gunsmith for the purpose of lawful service or repair, etc).
Oregon’s law defines large-capacity magazine to mean: “a fixed or detachable magazine, belt, drum, feed strip, helical feeding device, or similar device, including any such device joined or coupled with another in any manner, or a kit with such parts, that has an overall capacity of, or that can be readily restored, changed, or converted to accept, more than 10 rounds of ammunition and allows a shooter to keep firing without having to pause to reload, but does not include any of the following:
(A) An ammunition feeding device that has been permanently altered so that it is not capable, now or in the future, of accepting more than 10 rounds of ammunition;
(B) An attached tubular device designed to accept, and capable of operating only with 0.22 caliber rimfire ammunition; or
(C) A tubular ammunition feeding device that is contained in a lever-action firearm.”
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- See Measure 114, Section 11.[↩]