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Oregon experts tell legislature current laws are reducing deaths but more measures needed
Summary
Public-health and advocacy witnesses told a joint Senate and House judiciary informational hearing that Oregon’s background checks, child access prevention, ghost‑gun ban and extreme‑risk protections have reduced some harms but the state still faces higher-than-neighboring-state gun fatality rates, driven largely by suicide and rural impacts.
Oregon lawmakers held a joint informational hearing on firearm safety where public‑health researchers, advocates and practitioners summarized recent data showing progress from laws enacted over the last decade, but urged additional policy steps to reduce preventable deaths.
"Our laws are making a big impact on reducing our rates of gun deaths while continuing to respect our tradition of historic firearm ownership," said Jess Marks, executive director of the Alliance for a Safe Oregon, citing background checks, the state—s child access prevention law, the ghost‑gun ban and the extreme risk protection order (ERPO) statute.
Dr. Kathleen Carlson, an injury epidemiologist and founding director of the Gun Violence Prevention Research Center at OHSU–PSU School of…
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