Fatal Shootings and Mass Shootings in Oregon

Fatal shootings in Oregon, year by year comparison:

January 1 – December 15, 2022: 193 people fatally shot

January 1 – December 15, 2021: 156 people fatally shot

January 1 – December 15, 2020: 123 people fatally shot

January 1 – December 15, 2019: 108 people fatally shot

January 1 – December 15, 2018: 105 people fatally shot

January 1 – December 15, 2017: 96 people fatally shot

January 1 – December 15, 2016: 85 people fatally shot

January 1 – December 15: 120 people fatally shot (The Umpqua CC shooting in Douglas County occurred on October 1, 2015, leaving 10 dead and 9 injured.)

January 1 – December 15, 2014: 87 people fatally shot

Data from Gun Violence Archive, compiled by Ceasefire Oregon Education Foundation

Mass Shootings in Oregon from 2014 to December 12, 2022

Data from Gun Violence Archive, compiled by Ceasefire Oregon Education Foundation

Since 2014, Oregon has suffered from 23 mass shootings. Fifteen of those mass shootings occurred between December 31, 2020 and December 13, 2022.

When examining all the mass shooting deaths, 33% of the mass shooting deaths occurred during the 2015 Umpqua Community College shooting.

Homicide Deaths by Year (intentional, unintentional, law enforcement, not including suicide)

Data from the Gun Violence Archive:

2021: 164 firearm-related homicides (a 49% increase over 2019), 294 non-fatal gunshot wounds (a 95% increase over 2019)

2020: 127 firearm-related homicides, 261 non-fatal gunshot wounds

2019: 110 firearm-related homicides, 151 non-fatal gunshot wounds

Data compiled by Ceasefire Oregon Education Foundation

Oregon State Police Has Not Updated Their Firearm Background Check Data Since January 31, 2021.

Because of the Charleston Loophole (the “default proceed rule”), firearms dealers may complete a firearm sale WITHOUT A COMPLETED BACKGROUND CHECK if the background check takes longer than three business days. That loophole is how the Charleston AMC Church shooter bought his gun and killed nine people.

Oregonians have no idea how many people in Oregon have been armed illegally through this loophole.

2019 Oregon Firearm Instant Check System Requests: 310,373 with a denial rate of 0.84% (2,605 denials).

2020 Oregon Firearm Instant Check System Requests: 436,995 with a denial rate of 0.59% (2,568 denials).

Firearm sales and transfers for 2020 are 40.8% higher than 2019 but the denial rate has dropped. Oregon FICS is overloaded and no one knows how many firearms have been sold or transferred through the Charleston Loophole.

Presentation for Oregon Public Health Authority by Ceasefire Oregon Education Foundation: “Comparing rates of gun violence and firearm sales in Oregon during the Covid-19 pandemic”

Oregon State Police Firearm Instant Checks (FICS) requested by month, comparing pre-COVID-19 months to COVID-19 months

Oregon must prepare now for an increase in firearm-related crimes, stolen guns, and firearm homicide and suicide. The Covid-19 pandemic has fueled an increase in gun sales in many states, including Oregon.

While the gun lobby, particularly the NRA, wants people to believe that guns stop crime but “about 30 careful studies show more guns are linked to more crimes: murders, rapes, and others.”

Requests to the Oregon State Police Firearm Instant Check System (FICS) rose 93% the week of March 23-29, 2020 over the same week one year ago. From March 1 to 31, 2020, 51,526 FICS requests were recorded by the Oregon State Police. That is more than twice the rate of the January 2017 to February 2020 monthly average FICS request of 23,669.

Oregon has not ended the default proceed rule (better known as the Charleston Loophole) which allows gun sellers to complete a firearm sale after three business days even if a background check has not yet been completed. Ceasefire Oregon contacted Governor Brown to suspend the default proceed rule for the duration of the crisis but she has declined to do so.

The number of gun sales completed without a background check is not tracked.

Requests for firearm background checks, an indicator of gun sales in Oregon, is up 45% from the time of January 1, 2019 to September 30, 2019 compared to this same time for 2020.

FICS requests January 1, 2019 – September 30, 2019: 222,670

FICS requests January 1, 2020 – September 30, 2020: 322,742

• Monthly Average FICS Requests Jan 2017 – Feb 2020: 23,669
• Previous highest month, March 2018:  33,839
• Average FICS Requests in March 2017, March 2018, March 2019: 31,384
• FICS Requests for March 2020: 51,526, an increase of 66% over 2019.
• FICS Requests for March 2019: 31,060
• FICS Requests for April 2020: 38,306, an increase of 52% over 2019.
• FICS Requests for April 2019: 25,269
• FICS Requests for May 2020: 36,096, an increase of 58% over 2019.
• FICS Requests for May 2019: 22,794
• FICS Requests for June 2020: 37,857, an increase of 71% over 2019.
• FICS Requests for June 2019: 22,055
• FICS Requests for July 2020: 38,257 an increase of 73% over 2019.
• FICS Requests for July, 2019: 22,153
• FICS Requests for August 2020: 30,277 an increase of 25% over 2019.
• FICS Requests for August 2019: 24,245
• FICS Requests for September 2020: 33,949, an increase of 32% over 2019.
• FICS Requests for September 2019: 25,636
• FICS Requests for October 2020: 40,136, an increase of 59% over 2019.
• FICS Requests for October 2019: 25,315
• Previous highest month, March 2018:  33,839

Data Source: Oregon Firearm Instant Check System

Gun sales usually increase in March but this rate is unprecedented. New gun owners should understand that bringing a firearm into your home and community increases the chance that a family member will be fatally shot with that firearm or use it for suicide. Research shows that a firearm in the home doubles the risk of homicide and triples the risk of suicide.” (Anglemyer 2014)

A spokesperson for Oregon Governor Kate Brown told The Trace that firearm businesses can continue to operate as long as they can designate an employee to establish and implement social distancing policies and strictly enforce social distancing policies.

According to Portland Police Chief Jami Resch, calls for suicide attempts or threats increased 41% over the same time one year ago and have increased 23% from the period beginning 10 days before a state of emergency in Oregon was declared on March 8.

Chief Resch also announced that domestic violence arrests increased 27% year-over-year between March 12 and March 23 in both 2019 and 2020.

Eighty percent of all firearm-related deaths in Oregon are suicides. The high lethality rate of guns combined with easy access to an unsecured gun is a grave danger at any time, but particularly now when people are struggling financially and lack access to resources.

Ceasefire Oregon Education Foundation urges people to take the following actions to reduce gun violence in their homes and communities:

• Store all firearms securely either on the gun owner’s person (holstered), in a locked gun safe or gun room, or with a trigger lock or cable lock. Keep ammunition stored separately.
• Display the Suicide Prevention Hotline number 800-273-8255 near firearm(s) with pictures of family, friends, and pets.
• Visit Oregon Firearm Safety for information about talking to gun owners about suicide. 
• Ask if firearms are kept where your child or grandchild will be staying, playing, or vacationing. Find tips here for ASK: Asking Saves Kids.
• Consider storing your gun at a gun storage facility.
• Become familiar with Oregon’s Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPO) law. An ERPO can temporarily disarm a loved one who is in crisis. ERPOs may be filed by family members, household members, or law enforcement. More than 90% of Oregon ERPO petitions filed by law enforcement officers are approved by the courts.
• ERPO forms: https://www.courts.oregon.gov/programs/family/domestic-violence/Pages/Extreme-Risk-Protection.aspx
• Familiarize yourself with domestic violence resources in your area. More than 250,000 firearms are stolen every year from legal gun owners who do not properly secure their firearms in their homes and cars. Do not unwittingly arm criminals.
• When safe to do so, attend hands-on training classes for firearm owners.

Visit GVPedia to learn more about the realities and myths of defensive gun use.

Stolen Firearms: The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has also reported that 22,000 guns were stolen from gun stores during this same period. This equates to a gun stolen in the United States every two minutes. The increase in thefts and the quickness at which stolen firearms are trafficked after the thefts provide criminals and other prohibited persons easy and uncontrolled access to many weapons.  (Source)