A hearing is scheduled for March 4 at 1 PM on the bill to close the Charleston Loophole, HB 2543.
Oregon State Police Firearm Instant Checks have skyrocketed since March 1, 2020 rising 46% statewide when compared with the same time one year ago. The rate of denial investigations, however, has plummeted from an average of 0.85% between March 2019 and January 2020 to 0.51% between March 2020 to January 2021.

At this time, it is not known if the drastic decrease in denial investigations reflects an increase in the number of prohibited firearm purchasers who illegally purchased firearms through the Charleston Loophole.

We do know, however, that 98 Oregonians were fatally shot (excluding suicides) between March 1, 2019 and February 29, 2020 and 133 were fatally shot (excluding suicides) between March 1, 2020 and February 28, 2021 (Gun Violence Archive).

Suicide data for 2020 is not yet available.