Quick Answer: Oregon’s firearm storage duty doesn’t come from Measure 114 — the permit-to-purchase ballot initiative that dominates national headlines about Oregon gun law was still tied up in state-court litigation (Arnold v. Kotek) as of this writing and had no secure-storage provision in the first place. The actual storage law is 2021’s Senate Bill 554, the Cindy Yuille and Steve Forsyth Act, which requires an owner to secure any firearm not under their direct control with a trigger/cable lock, a locked container, or a gun room. Violations are civil infractions, not crimes — up to a $500 fine, rising to $2,000 if a minor gains access to the unsecured gun — a materially different enforcement model than the criminal penalties California, Massachusetts, New York, and Washington all attach to the same basic failure.
This guide covers what SB 554 actually requires, why its civil-not-criminal structure sets it apart from every other state framework already covered on this site, and how the Measure 114 confusion happens in the first place.
Measure 114 is not Oregon’s storage law
Measure 114, passed by Oregon voters in November 2022, creates a permit-to-purchase system and a 10-round magazine capacity limit. It has nothing to do with how a firearm must be stored at home. The measure has spent years in litigation — the Oregon Court of Appeals upheld it in March 2025, and the Oregon Supreme Court heard arguments in November 2025, with a final ruling still pending as of this writing, so its practical effective date keeps shifting. None of that litigation touches Oregon’s actual secure-storage requirement, because that requirement was never part of Measure 114 to begin with. It’s a separate statute that has already been in force since 2021.
What SB 554 actually requires
Senate Bill 554 (2021), Oregon Laws 2021 chapter 146, amended ORS 166.262, 166.291, 166.360, and 166.370 and is officially cited as the Cindy Yuille and Steve Forsyth Act, named for two people killed in the December 2012 shooting at Clackamas Town Center mall near Portland. The storage duty itself requires the owner or possessor of a firearm to secure it, whenever it isn’t carried by or under the control of the owner, possessor, or another authorized person, using one of three methods:
| Method | What qualifies |
|---|---|
| Trigger or cable lock | Engaged on the firearm itself |
| Locked container | A gun safe or lock box — key/combination not readily available to an unauthorized person |
| Gun room | Fully enclosed space (walls, floor, ceiling — a closet qualifies) with every entrance on a tamper-resistant lock, kept locked when unoccupied |
A firearm fails the standard if the key or combination is readily available to someone not authorized to have it, or if it’s a handgun left unattended and visible inside a vehicle. That’s a broad, functional test — similar in spirit to Washington’s RCW 9.41.010 definition already covered on this site, rather than a device-category standard like New York’s or a model-specific roster like California’s.
If you’re using the first method, our best gun locks guide compares cable and trigger locks by price and fit, and explains how to get one free through Project ChildSafe’s law enforcement partners.
Liberty Centurion 12-Gun Safe
- A locked safe like this satisfies SB 554's "locked container" method on its face — no device-category test or model roster to check it against.
- Because the standard turns on whether the key or combination is actually controlled, a safe left unlocked with the code written on a sticky note nearby wouldn't meet the exemption even though the hardware itself qualifies.
Civil infraction, not a crime — the first on this site
Every other state framework this site has covered treats a storage failure as a criminal offense once its trigger condition is met: Washington’s RCW 9.41.360 escalates to a gross misdemeanor or class C felony, New York’s §265.45 is a class A misdemeanor, and Massachusetts’ §131L carries penalties running as high as a 15-year felony exposure for the worst tier. Oregon’s SB 554 breaks that pattern entirely — a violation is a civil infraction, enforced with a fine rather than a criminal charge. A legislative impact analysis of the bill put the base penalty at up to $500 per violation, rising to up to $2,000 if a minor obtains the unsecured firearm and the owner knew or should have known a minor could gain access. That’s a real financial consequence, but it’s categorically different from carrying a criminal record.
| State | Enforcement | Who it applies to |
|---|---|---|
| Oregon (SB 554) | Civil infraction — up to $500, up to $2,000 if a minor accesses it | Universal duty |
| Washington (RCW 9.41.360) | Criminal — gross misdemeanor up to class C felony | Result-based (prohibited person must gain access AND use it) |
| New York (§265.45) | Criminal — class A misdemeanor | Conditional duty — minor or prohibited person in household |
| Massachusetts (§131L) | Criminal — tiered penalties up to 15 years | Universal duty |
| California (SB 53) | Criminal, roster-gated device requirement | Universal duty |
There’s a second, separate consequence that matters more than the civil fine for most owners: if an unsecured firearm is used to injure a person or damage property within two years of the violation, Oregon law treats that as negligence per se in a civil lawsuit — a presumption of negligence the owner can’t overcome by arguing they otherwise acted reasonably, with a carve-out for lawful self-defense. A $500 or even $2,000 fine is a fraction of what a negligence-per-se civil judgment can cost if someone is actually hurt.
Dealer obligations
Oregon gun dealers must post a notice, in block letters at least one inch tall, in a prominent location, stating that purchasers are obligated to store firearms safely and prevent unsupervised access by minors — the same point-of-sale notice pattern New York and Washington each require of their own dealers, just phrased under Oregon’s own statute.
The bottom line
Oregon’s real firearm storage law isn’t the one most people have heard of. Measure 114 — still unresolved in the courts as of this writing — governs permits and magazine capacity, not storage. The storage duty is 2021’s SB 554, the Cindy Yuille and Steve Forsyth Act: secure any firearm not under direct control with a trigger lock, locked container, or gun room, enforced as a civil infraction (up to $500, or $2,000 if a minor gets access) rather than a crime — the first non-criminal enforcement model among the five states this site has covered. That civil classification doesn’t reduce the real exposure if someone actually gets hurt: Oregon’s separate negligence-per-se rule can turn an unsecured firearm into civil liability regardless of the infraction fine, and a Liberty Centurion or similar locked container satisfies the legal minimum either way.
One more comparison worth knowing if you’re weighing states against each other: not every state imposes a standing duty like Oregon’s at all. See our Texas gun safe law guide for a sixth framework that only reacts after a child actually gains access to a loaded firearm — Texas has no SB-554-style universal storage requirement in the first place.
Sources: Oregon Laws 2021, Chapter 146 (SB 554); Safe Storage in Oregon, Giffords Law Center; Child Access Prevention and Safe Storage in Oregon, Giffords Law Center.