In Oregon, voters' passage of gun control measure led to more firearms in the state
Oregon voters' narrow 2022 approval of a referendum designed to limit gun purchases has instead resulted in thousands more firearms in the state than there otherwise would have been, a new analysis suggests.
Voters in Oregon narrowly approved a gun control measure in 2022, but a new study suggests it has led to more firearms in the state than initially expected. The Measure 114 referendum, which aimed to require permits for gun purchases and limit magazine capacities, won by just 1.3 percentage points. While proponents hoped to curb gun sales, researchers at Oregon State University, the University of Oregon, and the National Bureau of Economic Research found that background checks for firearms surged 157% after the measure passed, and an additional 63,000 checks occurred in the 18 months following the election.
Despite these increases, legal challenges have delayed the measure's implementation until at least 2028, allowing the gun count to grow beyond what could have been anticipated without the referendum.
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