Oregon will ask voters in the coming days whether to significantly increase restrictions on guns. If passed, a ballot measure in that state would require people who want to buy a gun to pay a fee, take a safety course, submit fingerprints and pass a background check to obtain a permit. High-capacity magazines — those that hold 10 or more rounds — would be banned outright.
These restrictions would place Oregon with a handful of other states that have some of the most restrictive gun laws in the United States. In part, experts say, that's because the ballot measure process doesn't generally involve the compromises and capitulations that usually accompany the legislative process of passing a law.
