HB 3076-2 : State Licensing for Arms Dealers
Position: Support Status: Senate Judiciary Committee with subsequent referral to House Ways and Means
Arms dealers in Oregon are required to have a federal license to be "in the business" of selling firearms. HB 3076-2 requires federally licensed firearms dealers operating in Oregon to also be licensed by the state of Oregon. Security, accountability, and reporting requirements are required.
Update
4-8 (H) Work Session: Do pass with amendments and be referred to Ways and Means by prior reference. (Printed A-Eng.)
4-7 (H) Work Session scheduled.
This bill had work sessions scheduled previously but all were carried forward to April 7.
3-20 (H) Public Hearing held
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
The -2 amendment was posted and passed out of committee on a party-line vote. The bill now goes to the House Ways and Means Committee.
Major highlights of HB 3076-2 include requiring:
- all firearms and ammunition at an arms dealers are secured
- all employees receive training
- implement security measures to prevent unauthorized entry
- surveillance video throughout the store
- alarm systems
- general liability insurance of at least $1 million
- suicide prevention information posted, and
- monthly inventory reporting.
- More detailed information is listed in the amendment.
Who is a firearms dealer? The new amendment defines a firearms dealer as:
- a federally licensed firearms dealer (FFL) pursuant to 18 U.S.C. 923
- and who is engaged in the wholesale or retail business of selling firearms, frames, receivers or unfinished frames or receivers;
- and sells more than ten firearms, frames, receivers or unfinished frames or receivers in a 12 month period.
What if a person only sells a few guns or wants to sell guns obtained through inheritance or because a person can no longer legally possess guns?
That person is defined as an infrequent seller. An infrequent seller is not considered a dealer and is defined as:
- a person who sells 10 or fewer firearms in a 12 month period, or
- who is selling 30 firearms or fewer because the seller obtained the firearms through inheritance, or
- because the person has recently become prohibited from possessing or purchasing a firearm and is complying with the prohibition.
Will the state perform on-site inspections at arms dealers? Yes.
- Annual on-site inspections by the Department of Justice (DOJ)
- Reasonable periodic unannounced inspections by the DOJ of a licensee’s place of business, during the dealer’s regular business hours, to ensure that the licensee is complying with the state license requirements
What are the new security measures required?
- All firearms must be locked at all times unless being shown by an employee
- All ammunition must be inaccessible to the public
- Inventory keeping and reporting to DOJ (to track stolen firearms and ammunition)
- At least one of the following features designed to prevent unauthorized entry is installed on each door of the retailer’s place of business:
- A steel security door without a window that is equipped with both a deadbolt and a doorknob lock, or
- A metal door with a window equipped with both a deadbolt and a doorknob lock, or
- A metal grate that is padlocked and affixed to the retailer’s premises independent of the door and door frame, or
- Another physical barrier approved by the Department of Justice by rule.
How much will a license cost?
The initial issuance and renewal of the license shall be based upon the average annual firearm sales of the dealer during the prior three years or, if the dealer has not been in business for three years, based upon the average annual firearm sales over the time the dealer has been in business, as follows:
- (A) $50 for the sale of 11 to 50 firearms per year.
- (B) $250 for the sale of 51 to 250 firearms per year.
- (C) $500 for the sale of 251 to 750 firearms per year.
- (D) $1,000 for the sale of 751 to 1,000 firearms per year.
- (E) $1,500 for the sale of 1,001 or more firearms per year.
Why does Oregon need to license gun dealers if they already have federal licenses?
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)
Do other states require FFLs to be licensed by a state?
Yes. 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.
What is the research on state licensing?
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)
What other businesses are licensed in Oregon?
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:
HB 3076-1 ensures that arms dealers are following reasonable security measures just as other businesses do.