Two state representatives and a former candidate for the state House filed a referendum Tuesday that would repeal a new state law that allows officials to seize a person's firearms if they pose a danger to themselves or family members.

Rep. Mike Nearman, R-Independence; Rep. Bill Post, R-Keizer; and one-time candidate Teri Grier will now begin an attempt to gather the more than 80,000 valid signatures required to get their referendum on the November 2018 ballot.

The law their referendum would repeal, Senate Bill 719, was the signature gun control measure enacted by state legislators in 2017. Other, more restrictive bills pushed by Democrats -- including Gov. Kate Brown -- died without a vote.

The bill that passed establishes a system of "extreme risk protection orders," similar to the process Washington voters approved in 2016.

Under Oregon's law, a judge can issue an order requiring a person to hand over their guns if they're deemed a risk to themselves or people they live with. The person then has 24 hours to turn in all guns before they can be seized.

Proponents say extreme risk protection orders are meant to prevent mass shootings and suicides. Critics have said judges and members of law enforcement may abuse the power to confiscate firearms.

Post, a second-term lawmaker, said he strongly opposes the law because it "calls for the forced confiscation of property by the police with no due process, no accusation of a crime let alone conviction of a crime. It allows people with no mental health credentials to make assessments of other's states of mind and it allows people with no mental health credentials (judges) to punish people they have never met or spoken to."

The champion of Oregon's bill was Sen. Brian Boquist, a Dallas Republican and combat veteran whose stepson, Navy veteran Sethan Sprague, committed suicide in 2016. Boquist didn't return a request for comment Tuesday.

-- Gordon R. Friedman

503-221-8209; @GordonRFriedman