December 8, 2022 11:05 a.m.
Following Tuesday’s decision by Judge Robert Raschio in Harney County to prevent enforcement of Ballot Measure 114, Wednesday morning the Oregon Department of Justice filed a mandamus petition asking the Oregon Supreme Court to review the decision immediately.
A release from the Department of Justice, Office of the Attorney General said the gun safety law, approved by voters last month by way of the initiative petition process, was originally set to go into effect Thursday, but the ruling in Harney County currently puts a stop to that.
The AG’s release said there are several pending cases that have challenged the new law. In contrast to the Harney County state court ruling, in a separate case, U.S. District Court Judge Karin Immergut denied a request by the Oregon Firearms Federation and other plaintiffs to temporarily prevent implementation of the large-capacity magazine restrictions of Measure 114. If not for Judge Raschio’s ruling, those restrictions would have gone into effect Thursday, along with the fix for the “Charleston loophole”, a federal loophole that allows gun transfers to process if background checks cannot be completed quickly.
A statement from Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum said: “We strongly disagree with the decision of the Harney County Circuit Court. Our mandamus petition to the Oregon Supreme Court gives our highest court the opportunity to weigh in now and reverse the Harney County judge’s ruling. Magazine capacity restrictions and permitting requirements have a proven track record: they save lives! We are confident the Oregon Constitution – like the Second Amendment of the U.S. constitution – allow these reasonable regulations”.
The filings are linked: https://www.doj.state.or.us/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/ARNOLD-MEMORANDUM-OF-LAW-22CV41008-joseph-et-al.pdf