Oregon Code § 166.395·Enacted ·Last updated March 01, 2026
Statute Text
Securing firearms; penalties; civil liability.
(1)(a) An owner or possessor of a
firearm shall, at all times that the firearm is not carried by or under the
control of the owner, possessor or authorized person, secure the firearm:
(A) With an
engaged trigger or cable lock;
(B) In a locked
container; or
(C) In a gun
room.
(b) For purposes
of paragraph (a) of this subsection, a firearm is not secured if:
(A) A key or
combination to the trigger or cable lock or the container is readily available
to a person the owner or possessor has not authorized to carry or control the
firearm.
(B) The firearm
is a handgun, is left unattended in a vehicle and is within view of persons
outside the vehicle.
(2)(a) A
violation of subsection (1) of this section is a Class C violation.
(b)
Notwithstanding paragraph (a) of this subsection, a violation of subsection (1)
of this section is a Class A violation if a minor obtains an unsecured firearm
as a result of the violation and the owner or possessor of the firearm knew or
should have known that a minor could gain unauthorized access to the unsecured
firearm.
(c) Each firearm
owned or possessed in violation of subsection (1) of this section constitutes a
separate violation.
(3) If a firearm
obtained as a result of an owner or possessor of a firearm violating subsection
(1) of this section is used to injure a person or property within two years of
the violation, in an action against the owner or possessor to recover damages for
the injury, the violation constitutes per se negligence, and the presumption of
negligence may not be overcome by a showing that the owner or possessor acted
reasonably.
(4) Subsection
(3) of this section does not apply if:
(a) The injury
results from a lawful act of self-defense or defense of another person; or
(b) The unsecured
firearm was obtained by a person as a result of the person entering or
remaining unlawfully in a dwelling, as those terms are defined in ORS 164.205.
(5) This section
does not apply to a police officer as defined in ORS 181A.355, with respect to
a particular firearm, if storage of the firearm is covered by a policy of the
law enforcement agency employing the police officer and the firearm is stored
in compliance with the policy. [2021 c.146 §3]