Ore. Gun Control Bill Passes Senate, Moves to House

On May 29, 2025 the Oregon Senate passed Senate Bill 243. The bill criminalizes the possession of so-called “rapid fire activators” and creates a patchwork of sensitive locations for concealed carriers on properties controlled by governmental bodies.

SB 243 pairs two distinctly different areas of firearm law; hardware bans and sensitive location definitions.

The banning of rapid fire activators would make the possession of binary triggers, bump stocks, forced reset triggers, etc. prohibited. The sensitive location provision would “authorize[] the governing body of a city, [or] a county or a special district that owns or controls a public building that is used for official meetings to” prohibit concealed handgun license holders from carrying in said locations.

According to Oregon Firearms Federation, the passage of SB 243 comes with a quorum being met due to Republican participation. In an email and post from the Federation, lawmakers across both aisles were criticized for their comments on and participation in the passage of this bill.

“Words cannot express the magnitude of the ignorance and stupidity showcased by most of the floor speeches,” the Federation’s post opened with. “But a few of the lowlights included Senator Broadman suggesting that banning reset triggers and keeping CHL holders out of public meetings would reduce veteran suicide. He also stated that the police ‘don’t want CHL holders[‘] help.’ We have no indication that any cop anywhere ever said that. But that does not stand in the way of making stuff up.”

Further criticism was directed at Senator Reynolds who opined that “machine guns are illegal” with the Federation stating: “She’s a moron but the Republicans did not disappoint either.”

The Federation continued:

Senators McLane and Nash both bemoaned the fact that they could not get to vote just to ban “rapid fire activators” something they agreed we have no right to own.

Senator Bonham noted, oddly, that most of the mail he got urged him to walk out. Which of course, he didn’t. So much for having your voice heard.

In spite of the fact that countless Oregonians own the devices banned under this measure and, for some reason have not committed mass murder, we were reminded by Floyd Prozanski that the ONLY thing you can do with them is “kill a lot of people in a very short time.”  

When this bill passes in the House and is signed by the Governor, people who now own these devices legally and safely will officially be in the same category as killers and child porn purveyors.

Republicans not eligible for reelection came under fire for allowing a quorum to be formed. Oregon law forbids lawmakers who refuse to attend Senate floor sessions. The penalty for failing to attend bans them from running for reelection. The law, Measure 113, was passed via ballot measure in 2022. The measure recorded that nearly 70 percent of voters favored the practice.

“It was always a safe bet that not enough Republicans had the courage to stop this bill,” the Federation observed. “After all, not a day goes by that they don’t torture us with press releases about the damage the Democrats are doing, yet they keep showing up to help them. But it is truly disappointing to see that even the Republicans who had NOTHING TO LOSE (because they already are denied the right to run again) showed up to grandstand. It may have been just a statement of support, but it would have been something.”

The Federation said it’s a foregone conclusion that the bill will be passed in the Oregon House and subsequently signed into law.

“The bill now moves to the House, where under the failed and embarrassing ‘leadership’ of Christine Drazan the Republicans are sure to fold again,” the Federation quipped. “But not without hours of speeches about just how terrible the bills they help pass are. Other even worse bills are waiting in the wings. It’s a safe bet they are not done yet.”