HB 3076 : State Licensing for Arms Dealers
Position: Support Status: Senate Judiciary Committee with subsequent referral to House Ways and Means
Most arms dealers in Oregon are required to have a federal license to be "in the business" of selling firearms. This bill relates to requiring federally licensed firearms dealers to also be licensed by the state of Oregon.
Update
1-13 (H) First reading.
1-17 (H) Referred to Judiciary with subsequent referral to Ways and Means.
Chief Sponsors: Representative Kropf, Grayber, Senator Reynolds, Representative McDonald, Senator Broadman
Regular Sponsors: Representative Gamba
Oregon OLIS information on HB 3076 is here.
The Trump Administration is expected to severely weaken an already anemic Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, commonly known as the ATF.
Mark Jones, a former ATF agent who retired in 2011, spoke to The Trace in a February 28, 2025 article about the appointment of Kash Patel as the FBI director and the head of the ATF: “It’s pretty demoralizing,” said Mark Jones, “This guy doesn’t like the ATF and doesn’t believe in firearms regulation. I just see him coming in with a wrecking ball.”
As it is, federally licensed firearms dealers (FFLs) are subject to very little scrutiny even though nearly all firearms in the United States are originally sold by licensed gun dealers. The lack of oversight, due to inadequate funding and gun lobby-backed legislation, too often allows corrupt or irresponsible gun dealers to endanger public safety without any accountability or consequences. (Giffords)
Twenty-seven states and the District of Columbia have adopted laws regulating firearms dealers, with additional states requiring dealers to conduct background checks, retain records of sales, or report sales to law enforcement. State licensing of arms dealer is well within the scope of the US Constitution and the Second Amendment.
Research is clear that changes to gun dealer practices can help prevent gun violence and gun crime. For example, when one Milwaukee dealer voluntarily changed their sales practices—namely by halting the sales of certain low-quality, inexpensive handguns—there was a subsequent decrease in the use of such weapons across the city of Milwaukee, a 73% decrease in crime guns recently sold by this dealer in the city, and a 44% decrease in the flow of newly trafficked guns recovered in the city. (National Library of Medicine)
Most Oregonians have been to a pharmacy within the past few years. Pharmacies dispense drugs that can ease pain and fight disease. But drugs can also be abused be people who become addicted to medications and drugs can be sold illegally by drug traffickers.
To reduce the amount of drugs being abused or entering the illegal market, Food and Drug Administration, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Oregon Board of Pharmacy regulate pharmacies and pharmacists and protect public health and safety “by ensuring high standards in the practice of pharmacy and through effective regulation of the manufacture and distribution of drugs.”
Because of the FDA, DEA, and OBP, people who enter pharmacies in Oregon know they will be protected by — and subject to — high levels of security including video surveillance, drugs locked in safes, drugs locked behind counters, requirements for prescriptions for dangerous drugs, and electronic databases to help pharmacists control and regulate their inventory of drugs to reduce theft or loss.
Arms dealers, however, are not subject to the security and accountability we require of pharmacies. That is not acceptable.
Without the ATF, who’s minding the store?
Oregon is home to 1,970 federally licensed firearms dealers. To put that in perspective, Oregon is home to: