Oregon UUW (ORS 166.220): Penalties, Defenses & Firearm Rights

In Oregon, unlawful use of a weapon is a Class C felony under ORS 166.220 that punishes two different acts: carrying or attempting to use a dangerous or deadly weapon with unlawful intent against another person, and intentionally firing a gun, bow, crossbow, blowgun, or explosive device toward a person, building, structure, or vehicle inside a city or a residential area within an urban growth boundary. A conviction carries up to five years in prison, a fine as high as $125,000, and a federal ban on possessing firearms that outlasts the sentence itself.¹

The Two Ways to Be Charged

Prosecutors only need to prove one of the two paths in the statute.

The first covers anyone who attempts to use a dangerous or deadly weapon unlawfully against another person, or who carries or possesses one with the intent to use it unlawfully.¹ Simple possession is not enough. The state has to show a specific unlawful purpose. Carrying a knife in your pocket does not violate this law. Carrying it while telling someone you are going to stab them does. Intent usually gets proved through statements, the circumstances of the encounter, or the fact that a weapon surfaced during another crime.

The second path targets intentionally discharging a firearm, blowgun, bow and arrow, crossbow, or explosive device toward any person, building, structure, or vehicle within range of the weapon.¹ This provision only reaches conduct within city limits or inside residential areas of an urban growth boundary. The projectile does not need to hit anything. Firing toward a target within range is enough. Accidental discharges do not qualify, because the statute requires intent.

What Counts as a Weapon

The statute reaches both “deadly weapons” and “dangerous weapons,” and the second category is wider than most people assume.

A deadly weapon is any instrument specifically designed for and presently capable of causing death or serious physical injury.² Loaded firearms are the obvious example.

A dangerous weapon is any weapon, device, instrument, material, or substance that, under the circumstances of how it is used or threatened, is readily capable of causing death or serious physical injury.² The phrase “under the circumstances” does the work. A baseball bat in the garage is sporting equipment. The same bat swung at someone’s head during a fight is a dangerous weapon. A bottle, a car, a length of chain — any object becomes a dangerous weapon when it is wielded in a way that could kill or seriously injure. You do not need a gun to face this felony.

Penalties If You’re Convicted

Unlawful use of a weapon is a Class C felony.¹ The statutory maximum is five years in a state correctional facility.³ A court can also impose a fine of up to $125,000, before any court fees and assessments.⁴

Actual sentences rarely hit that ceiling on a first offense. Oregon runs sentences through a guidelines grid that plots the offense’s seriousness against the defendant’s criminal history.⁵ Someone with no prior felonies or Class A misdemeanors sits in the lowest history category, where the presumptive sentence for less serious offenses may be probation with local jail time rather than prison. Prior convictions, especially person felonies, push the result toward incarceration. Judges can depart from the grid in either direction, but they have to state their reasons on the record.

Any prison term is followed by post-prison supervision. The length tracks the seriousness category under the guidelines, running from one year up to three years, and the combined prison and supervision term cannot exceed the five-year maximum.⁶

A felony record creates separate problems that outlast the sentence. Background checks can block employment, housing, and professional licensing. Boards that regulate healthcare, education, finance, and law tend to treat weapon-related felonies with particular severity.

What Happens to Your Firearm Rights

Federal law prohibits anyone convicted of a crime punishable by more than one year in prison from possessing any firearm or ammunition.⁷ Because ORS 166.220 carries a five-year maximum, a conviction triggers this federal ban automatically. It covers all firearms, not only the type involved in the offense, and it applies nationwide.

Oregon’s own firearm restriction runs for 15 years after you finish your sentence, supervision included. After that, rights restore automatically for most single-felony convictions, but not when the offense involved a firearm, a knife, or criminal homicide. A conviction under ORS 166.220 that involved a gun likely falls outside the automatic restoration. A separate petition under ORS 166.274 exists for non-violent offenses, but it excludes person felonies involving a firearm or deadly weapon. Getting state firearm rights back after this kind of felony is one of the harder paths in Oregon, and the federal prohibition stays in place as an independent barrier.

Defenses and Exceptions

ORS 166.220 lists five categories that fall outside its reach. Self-defense is the one most defendants try to raise, and it is the hardest to prove.

Self-Defense

Oregon lets you use physical force when you reasonably believe someone is about to use unlawful physical force against you or a third person, and you use only the degree of force reasonably necessary to stop the threat.⁸ That is the baseline for non-deadly force.

Deadly force has a higher bar. You can only use it when you reasonably believe the other person is committing or attempting a felony involving physical force, committing or attempting burglary of a dwelling, or using or about to use unlawful deadly physical force.⁹ Pulling a gun on someone who shoved you at a bar does not meet that standard. Pulling a gun on an armed intruder in your home might. “Reasonably” controls both provisions: the belief has to be one a reasonable person in your situation would share, not just one you personally held.

The Four Statutory Exceptions

The other carve-outs under the statute are narrower than they look:¹

Police officers and military personnel acting within the lawful scope of their official duties.
People discharging weapons at public or private ranges, galleries, or other areas built and designated for that purpose.
People lawfully hunting in compliance with Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife rules.
USDA employees discharging firearms in the lawful taking of wildlife within the scope of their employment.

Each exception is activity-specific. An off-duty officer carrying for personal reasons is not automatically covered. A hunter who fires recklessly toward a nearby building is not protected because they hold a tag. The conduct has to genuinely fit the exception.

If You’re Not a U.S. Citizen

Federal immigration law makes any noncitizen deportable who is convicted of purchasing, using, owning, possessing, or carrying a firearm in violation of any law.¹⁰ That ground applies to lawful permanent residents, visa holders, and anyone else without U.S. citizenship. A conviction that looks manageable in state court can mean removal and bars to future re-entry. Talk to an immigration attorney before accepting any plea, because a small change to the charges sometimes separates deportability from safety.

Clearing the Conviction Later

Oregon allows people convicted of a Class C felony to petition to set aside the conviction, which functions like expungement.¹¹ The earliest filing date is five years after conviction or five years after release from imprisonment, whichever is later. You cannot pick up any new criminal convictions during that waiting period, other than minor traffic violations.

Whether a given ORS 166.220 conviction qualifies depends on how the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission has classified it. The set-aside statute excludes certain person felonies, and a weapon charge involving force or threat against another person can fall into that bucket. As of late 2025, the Oregon State Police confirmed it will no longer deny firearm rights based solely on a conviction that has been set aside, though the federal prohibition under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g) may still apply on its own.

1
Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Code 166.220 – Unlawful use of weapon
2
Oregon Public Law. Oregon Revised Statutes 161.015 – General definitions
3
Oregon Public Law. Oregon Revised Statutes 161.605 – Maximum terms of imprisonment for felonies
4
Oregon Public Law. Oregon Revised Statutes 161.625 – Fines for felonies
5
Oregon Criminal Justice Commission. Oregon Sentencing Guidelines Grid
6
Oregon Public Law. OAR 213-005-0002 – Term of Post-Prison Community Supervision
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful acts
8
Oregon Public Law. Oregon Revised Statutes 161.209 – Use of physical force in defense of a person
9
Oregon Public Law. Oregon Revised Statutes 161.219 – Limitations on use of deadly physical force in defense of a person
10
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1227 – Deportable aliens
11
Oregon Public Law. Oregon Revised Statutes 137.225 – Order setting aside conviction or record of criminal offense