Oregon overturns ‘second amendment sanctuary’ law in blow to gun movement

An Oregon court dealt a blow to the state’s “second amendment sanctuary” movement, deciding on Wednesday that local governments cannot ban police from enforcing certain gun laws in a ruling that could hold national ramifications for anti-gun control efforts.

At the center of the lawsuit was a 2020 measure passed in Columbia county, a conservative area in the Democratic state, that argued state and federal gun laws did not apply in the county and banned local officials from enforcing the regulations. The rural region was one of some 1,200 in the US, from Virginia to New Mexico to Florida, to pass a second amendment sanctuary resolution.

The Oregon state court of appeals ruled the law, which included fines for officials who enforce most federal and state gun laws, violated a law granting the state the authority to regulate firearms. The ordinance would effectively “create a ‘patchwork quilt’ of firearms laws in Oregon”, the court found.

“It would have the potential to lead to uncertainty for firearms owners concerning the legality of their conduct as they travel from county to county,” Judge Douglas Tookey wrote.

The gun sanctuary movement, which first took off nationwide in 2018, had not yet faced a major legal challenge. The ruling will have wide implications in Oregon, where multiple localities have declared themselves second amendment sanctuaries. The state attorney general has sued two other counties that declared themselves sanctuaries. One of those counties eventually rescinded their ordinance.

“Today’s opinion by the court of appeals makes it clear that common sense requirements like safe storage and background checks apply throughout Oregon,” the attorney general, Ellen Rosenblum, said. “Hopefully, other counties with similar measures on the books will see the writing on the wall.”

Gun safety groups, some of which argued the ordinance violated the US constitution, applauded the decision. Eric Tirschwell, the executive director of Everytown Law, called the court’s decision “a win for public safety and the rule of law”.

“Opponents of gun safety laws have every right to advocate for change at the ballot box, statehouse, or Congress, but claiming to nullify them at the local level is both unconstitutional and dangerous,” Tirschwell said.

The Oregon Firearms Federation, a supporter of the Columbia county ordinance, criticized the ruling, saying it included “false attacks” and “calls into question the legitimacy of the court and the likelihood of getting fair rulings from it”.