One year later: Oregon gun control measures since Bend Safeway shooting

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — It’s been one year since a gunman opened fire in a Bend Safeway, killing three people including himself. Since then, Oregon legislators have passed stricter gun control regulations.

It happened on Sunday, Aug. 28, 2022, at the Forum Shopping Center. Around 7 p.m. That evening, the Bend Police Department responded to reports of the gunman who used an AR-15-style rifle to kill one person outside of the Safeway and a second person — a staff member — inside of the grocery store.

The two confirmed victims were 84-year-old Glenn Edward Bennett and 66-year-old Donald Ray Surrett Jr., the employee and U.S. Army veteran who died while trying to attack the shooter with a knife.

Authorities later identified the gunman as 20-year-old Ethan Blair Miller, who shot and killed himself after officers arrived at the scene. Police said Miller had four 30-round magazines when he died.

Later that November, Oregon voters approved Measure 114 — a measure that outlaws magazines over 10 rounds and requires a background check for residents who want to buy firearms, among other restrictions.

After the measure received backlash from several Oregonians who deemed it as unconstitutional, a federal court ruled that it was constitutional earlier this summer. However, other gun advocates have filed an appeal as a result of the ruling.

Another Oregon gun control policy has made more headway since the Bend Safeway shooting, which Gov. Tina Kotek said served as “another painful reminder that we are facing a gun violence crisis.”

“I will keep fighting to keep guns away from those who are likely to harm themselves or others,” Kotek tweeted at the time while she was a gubernatorial candidate.

Since winning the election and being sworn in earlier this year, Gov. Kotek signed House Bill 2005 — which bans undetectable firearms, otherwise known as “ghost guns” — into law.

The bill establishes a maximum fine of $250,000 and/or a maximum prison sentence for anyone who manufactures, imports, sells or transfers guns without a documented serial number.