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State of Oregon Permit to Purchase Program

Permit to Purchase Program 

*** As of December 7, 2022, the Permit to Purchase implementation has been delayed.***
 OSP Press Release December 7, 2022
The Permit to Purchase Program is a result of the passage of the 2022 Ballot Measure 114.  This program regulates and creates a process for the sale, purchase, and otherwise transfer of all firearms in the State of Oregon.  A person must apply for and be issued a "Permit to Purchase" a firearm or firearms from the Police Chief or County Sheriff with jurisdiction over the residence of the person making the application.  These Law Enforcement entities are referred to as "Permit Agents" in this program.   
Prior to a person buying, leasing, or otherwise transferring a firearm from a "Gun Dealer", the person must show proof of current identification and a valid "Permit-to-Purchase" before the Federally Licensed Firearms "Gun Dealer" can conduct firearms background checks on persons attempting to purchase a firearm (ORS 166.412) in Oregon.
Link to Ballot Measure 114
Link to Oregon Revised Statute 166- Offenses Against Public Order; Firearms and Other Weapons; Racketeering. 



Anticipated steps in the Permit to Purchase Application Process:

  1. The applicant is responsible for completing a certified firearm safety course and obtaining proof of completion.
  2. The applicant submits a completed Permit to Purchase application and proof of completion of an approved safety course to a Permit Agent which is defined as a local Police Department or Sheriff's Office.
  3. The Permit Agent will review documents and if applicable, they will collect the required fees, take a photograph of the applicant, and obtain fingerprints.
  4. The Permit Agent will do an initial review of the application packet for possible disqualifiers, before submitting the packet to the Oregon State Police for a national and state background check.
  5. The application and fingerprints are submitted to Oregon State Police for a comprehensive background check.
  6. Oregon State Police will run the background check and respond to the Permit Agent with a qualified or disqualified after all research is complete.
  7. The Permit Agent makes the final decision to issue a Permit to Purchase.

Work in Progress​

The Oregon State Police has filed the below temporary rules with the Oregon Secretary of State's Office in regard to Ballot Measure 114.  To learn more about Oregon Administrative Rules (OAR) and the process please visit the Oregon Secretary of States webpage:  https://sos.oregon.gov/archives/Pages/oregon_administrative_rules.aspx​

Oregon State Police Temporary Rules filed:

(1) OSP shall determine the format and shall assign the unique application and permit number to each Oregon State permit to purchase application and permit that shall be used by all permit agents for permit to purchase applications. The permit to purchase application is hereby incorporated by reference.

(2) When submitting permit to purchase application packets to OSP for background checks, permit agents shall use either US Mail, hand delivery by the permit agent, or delivery by courier. The packet must include both the paper fingerprint cards and the permit to purchase application form.

(3) OSP shall create the permit to purchase format that shall be issued by all permit agents.  Permit agents shall print the issued State of Oregon permit to purchase permit form in quadruplicate (four copies). The State of Oregon permit to purchase permit form is hereby incorporated by reference.

(4) Permit agents may designate permit agent responsibilities only to other Oregon law enforcement agencies and only as follows:

(a) Local police chiefs may designate permit agent responsibilities to other local police chiefs or the Oregon Sheriff having jurisdiction over the residence of a person making an application for a permit to purchase; or

(b) An Oregon Sheriff may designate permit agent responsibilities to a local police chief having jurisdiction over the residence of a person making an application for a permit to purchase.

(5) Designations conducted under subsection (4) of this rule shall be made using an Intergovernmental Agreement or other similar agreement

​(6) Only law enforcement agencies working in the permit agent role may initiate the fingerprint-based background check for Oregon and the FBI.  A non-law enforcement agency designee may not initiate the fingerprint-based background check.


​To learn more about the Oregon Firearms Instant Check System (FICS) Firearm purchase disqualifiers visit https://www.oregon.gov/osp/programs/cjis/Pages/Firearms-Instant-Check-System.aspx#Disqualify