"We have an obligation to protect Oregonians from gun violence," Brown said before signing Senate Bill 941. "If we want to keep our kids, schools and communities safe, we must make it harder for dangerous people to get guns."
The last major tightening of Oregon's gun laws came in 2000 when voters approved an initiative requiring background checks for all firearms sales at gun shows.
Since then, the National Rifle Association and other gun activists had successfully blocked attempts to tighten gun laws, including after the mass shootings in 2012 in Newtown, Connecticut, and Clackamas Town Center in the Portland area.
The tide turned last year when Everytown for Gun Safety, a group financially backed by New York billionaire Michael Bloomberg, helped elect two more Democrats in the state Senate and turned the political tide in the Oregon Legislature.
Everytown and other groups seeking tougher gun laws praised passage of the bill as a landmark both in Oregon and nationally while the National Rifle Association said the bill would fail to keep guns out of the hands of criminals.
SB 941 requires background checks for most gun transactions involving private parties to prevent sales to people legally prohibited from owning firearms, including felons and those committed for mental health treatment. The measure includes several exemptions, including for transfers among family members and for people who lend guns for hunting and for use at firing ranges.
