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Oregon’s Senate Bill 243: Key Changes for Gun Owners

Oregon’s Senate Bill 243: Key Changes for Gun Owners

In June 2025, the Oregon Legislature passed Senate Bill 243, known as the Community Safety Firearms Act, and Governor Tina Kotek signed it into law. There is some misinformation and confusion about what SB 243 does after a story in November 2025 by local news media. This blogpost discusses (1) what new law SB 243 created, (2) what portions of proposed laws from this year’s legislative session did not make it to the final version, and (3) how it affects the magazine limit and permit to purchase firearms provisions of Ballot Measure 114.

SB 243 (2025): Rapid Fire Activator Restrictions

SB 243 creates two new crimes related to rapid fire activators:

  • • Unlawful Transport, Manufacture, or Transfer. It is now a Class B felony for a person to knowingly transport, manufacture, sell, or transfer a rapid fire activator. Because this is a Class B Felony, the maximum sentence is 10 years in prison and $250,000 in fines.
  • • Unlawful Possession of a Rapid Fire Activator. It is now a Class A misdemeanor to knowingly possess, purchase, or receive a rapid fire activator. Because this is a Class A Misdemeanor, the maximum sentence is 364 days in jail and $6,250 in fines.

What is a Rapid Fire Activator?

Devices that make a firearm shoot faster than if the device was not attached, or if the device increases the rate of fire to “a faster rate than is possible for a person to fire the firearm without the device.” In addition to this clunky catch-all definition, rapid fire activators also include: 

  • • Bump stocks: A device that, when built into, installed in or attached to a firearm, increases the rate of fire of the firearm by using energy from the recoil of the firearm to generate a reciprocating action that facilitates repeated activation of the trigger.
  • • Binary trigger systems: A device that, when built into, installed in or attached to a firearm, allows the firearm to fire both when the trigger is pulled or depressed and when the trigger is released.
  • • Burst trigger systems: A device that, when built into, installed in or attached to a firearm, allows the firearm to discharge two or more rounds with a single pull or depression of the trigger by altering the trigger reset.
  • • Forced reset triggers: A device that, when built into, installed in or attached to a firearm, mechanically forces the trigger to reset into a firing position after each round is fired.
  • • Trigger cranks: A device that, when built into, installed in or attached to a firearm, repeatedly activates the trigger of the firearm through the use of a crank, level or any other part that is turned in a circular motion
  • • Hellfire triggers: A device that, when built into, installed in or attached to a firearm, disengages the trigger return spring when the trigger is pulled or depressed
  • • Auto sears or Switch: A device that, when built into, installed in or attached to a firearm, applies force to a firearm’s trigger bar to prevent the bar from limiting the weapon to firing only one round each time the trigger is pulled or depressed.

Limited exceptions apply for law enforcement and federally registered machine guns.

SB 243 (2025): Concealed Carry in Public Buildings

SB 243 allows local governments to restrict concealed handgun license (CHL) holders from carrying firearms in certain public buildings used for official meetings, such as city halls, libraries, and community centers.

These local governments must post visible signage at all normal entry points and publish notices on their local government’s official website. This does not change the prior laws regarding concealed carry weapons in schools, the Capitol, commercial airports, or courthouses.

Violations are a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to 364 days in jail and $6,250 in fines.

What SB 243 Does Not Include

There were multiple gun laws proposed during the 2025 Legislative Session. One of those bills included a 72-hour waiting period for firearm purchases. However, the waiting period provision was removed from the final bill.

How SB 243 Affected Ballot Measure 114

Ballot Measure 114, approved by voters in 2022, remains on hold pending Oregon Supreme Court review. SB 243 does not make BM114 effective. Instead, it moved BM114’s original effective date to March 15, 2026. However, because BM114 is currently blocked from going into effect while the Oregon Supreme Court considers whether the bill is constitutional under the Oregon Constitution.

This means that BM114 will only go into effect if the Oregon Supreme Court decides the bill is constitutional. Even if upheld, its provisions—including permit to purchase requirements and magazine capacity limits—will not take effect until March 15, 2026.

Key Points for Oregonians

  • 1. Rapid fire activators are now illegal to possess, sell, or transport in Oregon. Oregonians need to destroy any device that meets this definition to become compliant with this new law. At the time of writing, we are not aware of any lawsuits to challenge the constitutionality of this rapid fire activator law.
  • 2. SB 243 does not impose a 72-hour waiting period for firearm purchases.
  • 3. Local governments can restrict concealed carry in certain public buildings, so concealed handgun licensees need to be careful about where they go with their concealed carry firearms.
  • 4. Ballot Measure 114 is delayed until at least March 15, 2026. The Oregon Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Arnold v. Kotek on November 6, 2025, and may take multiple months to issue an opinion. Contact us today for a free consultation, and let’s talk about your options.

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