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Sometimes the opposite of what you wanted happens. You know, like trying to diet and accidentally eating half a pizza.

According to a newly published study, that’s pretty much what happened after Oregon voters narrowly approved Measure 114.

Instead of reducing firearm ownership, the controversial gun control measure sent Oregonians rushing to gun stores in record numbers.

The study, published in the Journal of Public Economics, found that firearm background checks jumped 14 percent in the days leading up to the November 2022 election. After Measure 114 passed, background checks exploded by 157 percent.

That’s exactly the kind of outcome gun rights advocates predicted.

The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA) says the numbers show the law had the opposite effect of what supporters intended.

This was as predictable as winter rain in Portland,” said CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb.

Measure 114 squeaked by with just a 1.3 percent margin, fewer than 25,000 votes out of more than 1.9 million ballots cast. The law created a permit-to-purchase system and other restrictions that supporters argued would reduce gun violence.

There’s just one catch. Nearly four years later, the law still hasn’t taken effect.

Measure 114 remains tied up in both state and federal court challenges, and Oregon lawmakers have delayed implementation until January 1, 2028, assuming it survives those lawsuits.

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In the meantime, plenty of Oregonians apparently decided they weren’t waiting around.

“Backers of Measure 114 have been humiliated,” Gottlieb said. “Their intention was to make gun ownership so burdensome that the number of firearms in the state would decrease. Instead, Beaver State citizens sent the gun control crowd a message that their narrow win at the polls… has turned into a serious policy and philosophical defeat.”

Gottlieb argued that the permit requirement motivated many residents to purchase firearms before additional restrictions could take effect.

“Their narrow victory awakened Oregonians, who flocked to gun shops and sporting goods stores,” he said.

The study supports that conclusion, documenting a sharp spike in firearm purchases immediately after the election.

CCRKBA also noted that virtually every major national gun rights organization filed lawsuits challenging Measure 114, leaving its future uncertain.

Meanwhile, Oregon’s firearm population has only grown.

“Would-be Utopians in the Willamette Valley who barely passed the measure vastly underestimated the determination of rights-minded citizens,” Gottlieb said. “Their nutty dream of a gun-free Oregon has turned into their personal nightmare because now there are more guns in the state.”

We’ll have to wait to see if Measure 114 ultimately survives constitutional review.

But in the meantime, we know that if the goal was to convince fewer Oregonians to buy guns… mission not exactly accomplished.

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