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Gun-rights protesters carried firearms into the Washington Capitol during a protest against a new voter-approved law expanding background checks on gun purchases. Oregon lawmakers this session will consider a similar bill.

(Gun-rights protesters carry firearms into the Washington Capitol during a protest against a new voter-approved law expanding background checks on gun purchases. Oregon is considering a similar law. (AP Photo/seattlepi.com, Jordan Stead))

Oregon lawmakers have introduced a highly anticipated bill this session that would require background checks for private gun sales, closing a loophole that backers say has made it easy for convicted felons and others prohibited from having guns to get them.

Oregon currently requires background checks for purchases from a licensed dealer or at a gun show.

SB 941, dubbed the "Oregon Firearms Safety Act'' and introduced Thursday by Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Sen. Floyd Prozanski, D-Eugene, would expand background check requirements to gun transfers between private individuals, whether through the Internet or personal contact.

It would, however, specifically exempt background checks for the transfers of firearms by or to a law enforcement agency, private security, members of the U.S. military, between spouses, domestic partners or other immediate relatives, or the transfer of guns resulting from the death of a firearms owner or involving a gun turn-in or buy-back program.

The bill also would require judges to rule whether people undergoing court-mandated outpatient treatment for mental disorders should be prohibited from obtaining firearms during their treatment.

It would prohibit people from buying or possessing a firearm while under outpatient treatment if there's a court finding a "reasonable likelihood the person would constitute a danger to him or herself or others, or to the community as a result of their mental or psychological state." Such a court order would be entered into the state law enforcement data system, known as LEDS.

Oregon now prohibits people from possessing or buying a gun if they have a felony conviction, are found "guilty except for insanity'' of a felony, were civilly committed to the Oregon Health Authority for a mental illness or found to be mentally ill and subject to a court-ordered gun ban because of the illness.

The bill also would require state police to report to the local sheriff's office or police chief an attempted gun sale if they find the intended buyer, through a background check, isn't supposed to have a gun.

If a gun sale is done without the required background check, the person making the sale can be prosecuted. The offense would be a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in prison, a $6,250 fine or both, or up to a 10-year maximum sentence and $250,000 fine for a second or subsequent violation.

"It shouldn't be so easy for criminals to get guns. This bill would help keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people by ensuring that all Oregonians undergo the same background check when buying a gun,'' said Jenna Yuille, whose mother Cindy was killed in the 2012 Clackamas Town Center shooting.

Six other states have adopted universal background checks -- the last being a ballot measure passed by Washington voters in November -- though similar bills failed to pass the Oregon Legislature in 2013 and 2014.

Oregon Democrats, who received major campaign contributions from the national gun-control group Everytown for Gun Safety last year, think they now have a big enough majority to pass the bill.

Kevin Starrett of the Oregon Firearms Federation, sent a message to other gun-rights advocates Thursday morning, urging them to make their concerns heard right away.

"We have been reliably informed that this bill is going to be fast tracked through the Senate,'' read a message sent by the Oregon Firearms Federation. "Please, right now, contact your representatives and express your outrage at this new and dangerous assault on your privacy and liberty.''

The federation's release called the current background system a "joke," and said this new bill's purpose "is simply to harass legitimate gun owners and expand the universe of registered guns and gun owners."

Last week, Starrett told The Oregonian/OregonLive about the anticipated effort to expand background checks on guns: "The more complex you make it, the more impossible it's going to be to have something you can enforce.''

Starrett argued that Oregon's background check system is already riddled with errors that prevent or delay legitimate buyers from getting a gun.

Everytown for Gun Safety released this analysis Thursday, saying FBI data and media reports show that more than half of Oregon police shot to death in a 30-year span were killed by people who had been barred from possessing guns.

Everytown for Gun Safety released this analysis on Thursday, saying FBI data and media reports shows that more than half of Oregon police shot to death in a 30-year span were killed by people who had been barred from possessing guns.

Everytown for Gun Safety and the Oregon chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Safety in America applauded the proposed legislation.

Anneliese Davis, a volunteer with the Oregon chapter of Moms Demand Action, called SB 941 a "first step toward keeping our kids, schools, communities -- and the law enforcement officers who work to protect us -- safer.''

"Background checks are proven to prevent gun violence - and as Oregon moms, we urge the Legislature to pass this bill as swiftly as possible,'' Davis said in a prepared statement.

The expanded checks "would do nothing to impede the average law-abiding citizen from buying and owning guns. It should be about as much as of a no-brainer as you could ever imagine," said Dan Gross, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. He also urged voters to contact legislators "and hold them accountable to put the safety of Oregon citizens ahead of the interests of the corporate gun lobby."

Everytown for Gun Safety's "Oregon Officers Down'' study also found that two-thirds of Oregon law enforcement officers intentionally killed on duty between 1980 and 2014 were killed with guns.

Retired Portland Police Chief Mike Reese said the state needs to address the "dangerous loophole in the law'' that allows criminals to get guns online or through a private sale from a stranger, "no questions asked.''

"Where they've changed the law, fewer police officers are shot and killed in the line of duty,'' Reese said.

--Maxine Bernstein

mbernstein@oregonian.com

503-221-8212; @maxoregonian

--Jeff Mapes contributed to this story.