The Oregon Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit against Yamhill County in response to its ordinance declaring itself exempt from state gun laws.
County Commissioners Mary Starrett and Lindsay Berschauer enacted the ordinance in early April, outvoting Commissioner Casey Kulla and disregarding a warning from County Counsel Christian Boenisch that the ordinance might pre-empt state gun laws, which is banned under state law.
The ordinance declared that no county resources would be used to uphold state or federal gun laws enacted after February — and that any county official attempting to enforce the laws could be fined and subject to private lawsuits.
“I have a hard time seeing a prohibition to enforce being anything other than an attempt to regulate, even if it’s only an attempt to regulate locally,” Boenisch told commissioners at the time.
Starrett and Berschauer argued at the time that no county’s Second Amendment ordinance had yet been challenged in court, but Boenisch said he did not believe any county had actually attempted to enforce its ordinance.
Yamhill County’s ordinance went into effect at the end of June.
On Friday, Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum announced that she was suing Yamhill and Harney counties over their ordinances.
“Gun safety laws exist to help keep guns out of dangerous hands and keep people safe. A county commission simply doesn’t get to override state law in this way,” Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum said in a press release.
“The laws of Oregon remain fully in force – and fully enforceable – notwithstanding these invalid ordinances. No officials should be frightened out of properly doing their job by the threat of illegitimate criminal charges or bogus lawsuits,” Rosenblulm said. “Although today’s lawsuits are addressed to only these two Oregon counties, other counties have enacted similar illegal ordinances. These actions will hopefully send the message that we are prepared to preserve the rule of law across our state.”
Both District Attorney Brad Berry and Sheriff Tim Svenson expressed concerns about the ordinance to commissioners last spring. Commissioners initially removed the provisions the two objected to, but later added them back at a meeting neither was available to attend.
While debating the issue last spring, the county was flooded by letters in support, mostly from people who do not live in the county, at the request of the Oregon Firearms Federation, which is headed by Starrett’s brother, Kevin Starrett.
Letters also poured in from county residents; the majority of them in opposition.
DOJ sues county over gun ordinance - McMinnville News-Register
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