PORTLAND, Ore. — Democrats in the Oregon House passed a bill Wednesday that would modify state law surrounding Measure 114, a gun control initiative narrowly approved by voters back in 2022.

Due to various legal challenges, Measure 114 has never taken effect. However, enough rulings have since gone in its favor that the law may soon have a window for implementation. House Bill 4145 is intended to make that practicable, should it finally be permitted to take effect.

As passed by voters, Measure 114 would require that prospective gun owners obtain a five-year permit from law enforcement, with gun safety training as a prerequisite. It would also require the completion of a federal criminal background check, eliminating loopholes which might allow for a gun to be transferred prior to the check’s completion.

The measure also bans the new sale of magazines holding more than 10 rounds of ammunition.

While the measure immediately faced challenges under both the Oregon and U.S. constitutions, it was also lambasted for some poor wording — not to mention an incredibly tight timeline for implementation.

In 2023, the FBI’s special agent in charge of Oregon told KGW that federal law prevented them from complying with Measure 114 as adopted, because the text implied that the feds might need to provide the information from background checks to a private party.

In the intervening years, Democrats have tried several times to pass bills that would clarify Measure 114 such that implementation could proceed — sometimes adding additional provisions, like raising the minimum age to purchase most firearms from 18 to 21 — but those bills ultimately did not become law.

READ MORE: Oregon’s long-delayed gun control law, Measure 114, now in the hands of the state supreme court

HB 4145, passed Wednesday, is a more streamlined bill primarily meant to tweak state law as shaped by Measure 114.

“Voters passed Measure 114 in 2022 because Oregonians are tired of reading about — and experiencing — gun tragedy in their schools, stores, places of worship and homes,” said Rep. Dacia Grayber, a Democrat from Southwest Portland. “This bill is about respecting that vote and doing the work to make lifesaving policies real, ensuring more communities feel safe, and fewer families suffer the unimaginable tragedy of gun violence.” 

Rep. Thuy Tran of Northeast Portland, who was reportedly taken aside and berated by bill sponsor and fellow Democrat Rep. Jason Kropf during a committee vote after she expressed skepticism about an aspect of the bill, nonetheless put out a statement of support for HB 4145.

“I am a gun owner. I believe in preserving our 2nd Amendment rights and I want to make it safer for everyone while also preserving the freedoms of law-abiding gun owners,” said Tran.

Broadly speaking, HB 4145 makes a number of small changes to wording for the laws created by Measure 114. Importantly, it moves the effective date for the measure’s “permit to purchase” requirement out to Jan. 1, 2028 — giving the state time to create the necessary processes.

The bill also gives law enforcement agencies 60 days instead of 30 to provide a gun permit to an eligible applicant, and increases the maximum fee from $65 to $150. Renewals can cost up to $110. In either case, only $48 of that can go to the agency processing the application.

Under the bill, permit information is then entered into the Law Enforcement Data System, or LEDS. Importantly, this information is exempt from public records requests.

RELATED: Measure 114’s long legal saga, and where it goes from here | Timeline

Applicants for a gun permit must complete a firearms training course — which can include currently certified concealed handgun license courses — or be a retired law enforcement officer with proper ID, a certified corrections officer, an instructor approved by the National Rifle Association, a former member of U.S. armed forces with proof of firearms qualification from within the last 10 years, or a certified armed security guard.

The bill does make a potentially substantive change to the ban on selling large-capacity magazines, however: the ban becomes effective when Measure 114 is allowed to take effect or on Jan. 1 2027, whichever is sooner — envisioning a world, perhaps, in which the magazine restrictions can take effect despite other aspects of the measure being blocked or struck down.

HB 4145 then gives gun dealers 180 days to somehow dispose of their large-capacity magazines, as long as they aren’t selling them to buyers in Oregon.

The bill also attempts to head off some types of legal challenges that have held up Measure 114 before, as when a judge in Harney County blocked the measure and eventually ruled it unconstitutional. HB 4145 stipulates that those challenges must happen in Marion County Circuit Court.

HB 4145 passed the House 33-19 and now heads to the Senate, where it’s scheduled to have its first reading on Thursday.