After gut-wrenching debate, Oregon House passes bill preventing regular guns from turning into ‘machine guns’

Democrats in the Oregon House passed a bill Wednesday that they claim will outlaw gadgets that effectively convert semi-automatic handguns into machine guns capable of firing anywhere from 60 to over 600 rounds per minute, over the opposition of every Republican in attendance.

Republicans said that the numerous restrictions in Senate Bill 243 would penalize law-abiding gun owners who have a fundamental right to defend themselves, their families, and their neighbors during a heated argument that lasted more than an hour. Republicans said that because society hasn’t addressed the issues of mentally disturbed shooters, their Second Amendment rights shouldn’t be violated.

However, Democrats won by a landslide margin of 33–10. (When the vote was conducted after 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, seventeen members of the House—both Republicans and Democrats—were not present.)

However, Republicans also claimed what their leaders called a significant victory in the House on Wednesday night when Democrats agreed to repeal House Bill 3076, another gun-related proposal. What agreement the Democrats reached with the Republicans to kill the plan was not immediately apparent.

Rep. Sarah McDonald stated during the lengthy debate over the other gun bill, Senate Bill 243, that it would outlaw rapid-fire activators like bump stocks, which are already outlawed in 17 states, and Glock switches, which are prohibited in more than two dozen states, both red and blue.

According to McDonald, a Democrat from Corvallis, these devices have no sporting or recreational value. They are made to cause as much harm, destruction, and death as possible.

Additionally, the law would give individual cities, counties, and school districts the authority to prohibit individuals—including those with concealed gun licenses—from bringing their firearms into buildings used for meetings of the city council, county commission, or school board.

The law would also postpone Measure 114’s implementation until at least March 15, 2026. The legislation closes the so-called Charleston Loophole by requiring the completion, not just the start, of a criminal background check before a gun may be purchased or transferred, restricting the capacity of gun magazines to 10 rounds or less, and requiring a permit to purchase a firearm.

Since voters approved the proposal in November 2022 following a successful legal challenge in Harney County, it has been on hold. The Oregon Supreme Court agreed earlier this month to hold a hearing in November to consider whether the bill complies with the state constitution’s right-to-bear arms section.

Senate Bill 243, which passed a previous version of the bill in May but needs to adopt a House amendment postponing the implementation of Measure 114, is back in the Senate after battling its way through the House on Wednesday night.

Additionally, the bill was the subject of intense constituent debate, generating over 2,300 written testimonies during its committee phase.

Many parts of the bill were criticized by Oregon House Republicans, including Rep. Bobby Levy, a Republican from Echo, who said it “sends the message to many residents that we don’t trust you.”

The rights of law-abiding Oregonians are being attacked by this measure, let’s call it that, * Levy said.

In 2014, as the final gunfire erupted, a 15-year-old kid used an AR-15 weapon to kill a 14-year-old student and injure a teacher at Reynolds High School. Hood River Republican and former police officer Rep. Jeff Helfrich informed his colleagues that he hurried to the school. According to Helfrich, he also responded to the Clackamas Town Center two years prior, when he saw the two deceased victims and his squad located the gunman who had committed suicide.

According to Helfrich, it took me three years to enter the Clackamas Town Center and consider wanting to be there with my family. Believe me, I understand what it’s like to feel afraid.

He did, however, clarify that this bill does not increase public safety. Lawful gun owners suffer as a result.

However, Democrats argued the bill is a step in the right direction to reduce the widespread violence.

The persistent threat of school shootings has prompted campuses worldwide to conduct active shooter drills, according to Rep. Lisa Fragala, a Democrat from Eugene and a teacher who has worked with children ages five, six, and seven. When there was an active threat, she claimed to have also gone through a true lockdown.

Children of all ages are affected by negotiating this reality, and I don’t think I need to explain that to anyone,” Fragala added. Additionally, because you taught your kids to move the furniture in front of the door and then sit huddled together, I don’t think I need to explain what it means to conceal in a classroom after they have done so. Do they weep? Yes, but discreetly, as we’ve also taught them to do that.

Rep. Jason Kropf, a Democrat from Bend, claimed to be familiar with firearms because he was raised in a hunting family and received a shotgun with three shells for his sixteenth birthday and a five-round deer rifle for his high school graduation. “I find it confusing that people need devices to make any gun a fully automatic weapon,” Kropf remarked.

On Wednesday, June 25, 2025, Bend Democrat Rep. Jason Kropf talks in favor of House Bill 243.(Livestream screenshot of the Oregon Legislative Information System)

While fighting back tears, Kropf stated that as long as there are shootings in Oregon and across the country, the Legislature will be debating whether or not additional gun control measures are necessary. He listed a number of incidents, including the 2012 shooting at Clackamas Town Center in the Portland area that claimed the lives of two mall patrons, the Umpqua Community College shooting in Roseburg in 2015 that claimed nine lives, the Bend Safeway shooting in 2022 that claimed two lives, the 2017 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida that claimed the lives of seventeen students and teachers, and the Sandy Hook Elementary massacre in Connecticut in 2012 that claimed the lives of twenty-six students and staff.

I’m confused, Kropf stated….Because they are ordinary, they all seem to blur together in our minds. Typical. We are all indicted by that.

As a fireman, Rep. Dacia Grayber, a Democrat from Southwest Portland, said she had firsthand experience with the destruction that one gun can cause.

How many of you in this room have had to attempt to keep someone alive after they were shot and stitch their body back together? Grayber uttered such words. How many of you have had to do this after a single gunshot left a person with ten or twelve holes? Rep. Grayber, you could think, “Oh, you did that.” You’re a battlefield medic? I’m a street medic, sorry. I work as a firefighter.

She claimed that every day that passes without politicians passing stricter gun control legislation puts innocent people in danger.

McDonald, a leading Democratic supporter of the bill, pointed out that the Trump administration outlawed bump stocks, one of the same rapid-fire activators, in 2018. After a Las Vegas shooter in 2017 used the devices to alter several firearms, killing 60 people and wounding 400 in around 11 minutes, the government enacted the ban.

However, a majority of justices on the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the ban in 2024, defining rifles with bump stocks as something other than machine guns. According to the justices, federal law would need to be changed by an act of Congress in order to forbid bump stocks, as it currently does for machine guns.

Democrats agreed to remove House Bill 3076 from the House’s voting docket, which would have mandated that gun dealers in the state adhere to Justice Department-established guidelines regarding the proper storage and handling of firearms, enroll in a licensing program administered by the Oregon Department of Justice, and have their establishments inspected on-site every four years.

Canby’s House Republican Leader Christine Drazan claimed that Republicans were defending Oregonians by blocking the bill’s passage. She referred to the bill as radical.

She said that this bill had nothing to do with safety. It has to do with control.

The Oregon Legislature is covered by Aimee Green. You can reach her on Bluesky, agreen@oregonian.com, or at 503-294-5119.

Maxine Bernstein writes about criminal justice and federal courts. 503-221-8212, mbernstein@oregonian.com, X@maxoregonian, Bluesky@maxbernstein.bsky.social, and LinkedIn are some of her contact details.

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