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Dispatches from public radio's correspondent at the Oregon Legislature. This is a venue for political and policy coverage of the state government in Salem and its impact on the people of Oregon.

Oregon Senate To Vote On Expanding Background Checks

M Glasgow
/
Flickr
Oregon currently requires background checks for guns sold at licensed dealers or at gun shows.

The Oregon Senate could vote Tuesday on expanding background checks to include private gun sales.

The measure would require people to run a State Police background check on gun buyers. People selling guns to family members would not have to run a background check.

That's defined fairly broadly to include not just immediate members of your family but also cousins and nephews and aunts and uncles and that sort of thing.

But opponents of the measure say that if someone wants to sell a gun to a long-time friend or neighbor - even if they have known them for decades -- they will still have to go through a criminal background check.

Right now, background checks are required for guns sold at licensed dealers or at gun shows. If the measure passes, it would head to the Oregon House.