Chapter § 7.1

• Jurisdiction: Oregon

§ 7.1 INTRODUCTION

"The people shall have the right to bear arms for the defence [sic] of themselves, and the State, but the Military shall be kept in strict subordination to the civil power[.]" Or Const, Art I, § 27.

Oregon courts have concluded that Oregon's "right to bear arms" constitutional provision is not coextensive with the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution. See § 7.2-1 (Oregon's general approach to Article I, section 27). Article I, section 27, protects the rights of Oregonians to possess billy clubs, switchblade knives, and firearms technologically similar to those commonly available in 1859, when the Oregon Constitution was approved. However, firearms based on more recent technology, such as automatic and semiautomatic firearms, are not within its ambit. See § 7.2-2 (arms that fall within the scope of Article I, section 27).

On the other hand, "the Second Amendment extends, prima facie, to all instruments that constitute bearable arms, even those that were not in existence at the time of the founding [of the United States]." District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 US 570, 582, 128 S Ct 2783, 171 L Ed 2d 637 (2008). The United States Supreme Court has determined that the right to bear arms contained in the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution applies to the states. McDonald v....