Oregon’s magazine capacity limit is not in effect and will not be enforceable until at least January 1, 2028. Voters approved the 10-round cap in November 2022 as part of Ballot Measure 114, but a Harney County judge blocked it two days before its original start date, and it has been tied up in court ever since. In 2026 the legislature pushed the implementation date out to the start of 2028 to give the Oregon Supreme Court time to rule.
What’s Legal in Oregon Right Now
As of 2026, you can buy, sell, own, and use magazines of any capacity in Oregon. No state permit is required to purchase a firearm; only the standard federal background check applies. None of Measure 114’s restrictions, including the permit-to-purchase system it would create for all firearm sales, are currently enforceable.
The 10-Round Rule That Would Apply
If Measure 114 activates, it will be a crime to manufacture, import, possess, use, buy, sell, or transfer any magazine capable of accepting more than 10 rounds. The definition sweeps in fixed and detachable magazines, drums, belts, feed strips, and helical feeding devices. It also covers kits of parts that could be assembled into a prohibited magazine, coupled devices that together exceed 10 rounds, and any magazine that can be “readily restored, changed, or converted” to hold more than 10. Pulling a limiter pin out of a reduced-capacity magazine would not create a legal workaround.
Three categories are excluded from the ban even when they hold more than 10 rounds:
- Magazines that have been permanently altered so they cannot accept more than 10 rounds and cannot feasibly be restored to higher capacity.
- Attached tubular magazines designed exclusively for .22 caliber rimfire ammunition.
- Tubular magazines built into lever-action firearms.
Active-duty law enforcement officers and military personnel are exempt while performing official duties. The exemption is tied to on-duty status, not to badge or ID.
Grandfathering for Magazines Owned Before the Effective Date
If the law takes effect, large-capacity magazines that were lawfully owned beforehand do not have to be surrendered or destroyed. Owners can keep them, but where and how they can be used shrinks considerably. Grandfathered magazines can be used only on private property (land you own or have permission to shoot on), at public or private shooting ranges, and during lawful hunting or organized competitive shooting.
Transport rules apply on the way to those places. The magazine cannot be inserted in a firearm during transport, and it has to be either unloaded or locked in a container separate from the gun. Selling or giving a grandfathered magazine to anyone else is prohibited outright, even to someone who could otherwise lawfully own one.
The practical takeaway: anyone who buys standard-capacity magazines before the effective date would be grandfathered under these rules. Anyone who acquires them after would face criminal charges for possession alone.
Penalties if the Law Activates
Violating the magazine restriction is a Class A misdemeanor. In Oregon that carries up to 364 days in jail, a fine of up to $6,250, or both. Each prohibited act is a separate charge, so manufacturing, possessing, and selling one banned magazine could theoretically produce three counts.
Why the Law Is Still on Hold
Measure 114 was scheduled to take effect December 8, 2022. Harney County Circuit Court Judge Robert Raschio blocked it before that date and, in November 2023, ruled that it violated the right to bear arms in the Oregon Constitution and permanently enjoined it. The Oregon Court of Appeals reversed in March 2025, finding the measure facially constitutional under the state constitution. The case then moved to the Oregon Supreme Court, where it was still pending in late 2025.
The federal track has gone the other way. U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut upheld the law against Second Amendment claims after a 2023 bench trial, concluding that large-capacity magazines are not protected by the Second Amendment. An NRA-backed appeal continues in the Ninth Circuit.
During the 2026 session, the legislature passed House Bill 4145, moving the implementation date from March 15, 2026 to January 1, 2028. Lawmakers designed the delay to avoid conflicting with the Oregon Supreme Court case still in progress.
What Happens Between Now and 2028
Two things need to happen for the magazine cap to actually take effect. The Oregon Supreme Court has to leave the Court of Appeals decision in place (or issue its own ruling upholding the measure), and the legislature has to leave the January 1, 2028 date alone. Either could still change. If the measure activates on schedule, magazines lawfully acquired before that date fall under the grandfathering and transport rules described above; anything acquired after is subject to the full criminal penalty.
There is no federal magazine cap to fall back on either way. Congress banned large-capacity magazines in the 1994 Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, but that provision expired in 2004 and has not been renewed. Magazine limits are entirely a state matter now, and about a dozen states plus the District of Columbia have their own caps, most set at 10 or 15 rounds.