Oregon - OR Gun Laws

As of this review, buying a rifle, shotgun, or handgun from a licensed dealer in Oregon requires only the standard federal NICS background check (Form 4473) — Measure 114's permit-to-purchase requirement remains enjoined and has been delayed by the legislature to January 1, 2028. Federal age minimums apply: 18 for a long gun, 21 for a handgun. This is a genuine watch item — if Measure 114's permit-to-purchase system ultimately takes effect, this would change to a permit requirement for handgun purchases.

Oregon's 2015 law requires background checks on private, non-dealer firearm sales — a seller must have a licensed dealer run the check. Immediate and extended family transfers are exempt: parents, step-parents, grandparents, spouses, domestic partners, siblings, children, step-children, grandchildren, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, first cousins, and their spouses or domestic partners. This background-check requirement is separate from Measure 114 and remains in effect regardless of that law's litigation status.

Oregon follows the standard federal prohibited-persons categories: felony conviction, certain domestic violence convictions or active protective orders, unlawful drug users, individuals adjudicated mentally defective or committed to a mental institution, fugitives from justice, dishonorable military discharge, undocumented immigration status, and renunciation of U.S. citizenship. Oregon also has an Extreme Risk Protection Order (red-flag) law allowing certain petitioners to seek a court order temporarily removing firearms from someone found to pose a risk.

Legal statewide by default, but ORS 166.173 lets cities and counties adopt local ordinances restricting or prohibiting loaded firearms in public places — several cities, including Portland, have done so. Those local ordinances automatically exempt anyone holding a concealed handgun license, so a CHL effectively restores full carry rights in a city that has restricted open carry of a loaded firearm.

Requires a Concealed Handgun License (CHL), issued shall-issue by the county sheriff to qualified applicants. Oregon has not adopted permitless carry. A CHL is also the key that unlocks carrying a loaded firearm in the cities that have restricted open carry under ORS 166.173, and lets a holder bring a concealed handgun into most public buildings and even K-12 public schools and the state Capitol, subject to those institutions' own posted policies.

A valid CHL is required to carry a concealed, loaded handgun in a vehicle in most circumstances. The same local-ordinance and sensitive-location restrictions that apply elsewhere also apply to vehicle carry (see Restricted Locations).

Oregon restricts firearms in K-12 schools, the state Capitol building, and airports, though CHL holders are generally exempted from the K-12 school and Capitol restrictions unless a specific institution has posted its own contrary policy. Several cities, most notably Portland, separately restrict carrying a loaded firearm in public under the ORS 166.173 local-ordinance exception, with the same CHL exemption applying. Federal restrictions still apply regardless of state law — federal buildings and other federal property remain off-limits under federal statute.

Oregon does not set a comprehensive statewide minimum age for possessing a firearm beyond the federal purchase-age framework (18 for long guns, 21 for handguns through a dealer). Supervised possession and use by minors below these ages — for hunting, target shooting, or firearms safety instruction under adult supervision — is common practice and not separately restricted by a dedicated state age-floor statute.

None currently in effect. Ballot Measure 114's 10-round magazine cap remains blocked by ongoing state court litigation and has been delayed by the legislature (HB 4145) to January 1, 2028 — a major watch item for future review cycles, since it would substantially lower this score if it ultimately takes effect.

Oregon has no explicit Stand Your Ground statute. Case law generally follows a duty to retreat if it can be done with complete safety before using deadly force in public, while Oregon's castle doctrine removes that duty within the home.

ORS 166.170 nominally vests all firearm regulation authority solely in the state legislature, but ORS 166.173 carves out a specific, real exception: cities and counties may adopt ordinances restricting or prohibiting loaded firearms in public places, provided they automatically exempt CHL holders. Portland and other cities have used this authority, which is a more substantial local carve-out than the simple discharge-ordinance exceptions seen in most other strong-preemption states.

Oregon State Police, Firearms Instant Check System (FICS): oregon.gov/osp
Oregon Revised Statutes, Chapter 166 (full text): oregonlegislature.gov
Your county Sheriff's Office: for Concealed Handgun License applications
ATF: for federal NFA questions — Oregon does not add state-level restrictions on suppressors beyond federal requirements