An Arizona woman who directs Gun Owners of America's Oregon operations has sued the City of Salem and Marion County Sheriff Nick Hunter, arguing that Oregon's patchwork of gun laws leaves out-of-state visitors with no legal way to carry a loaded handgun for self-defense. Cynthia Ladd says she wants to carry a concealed handgun while in Oregon but cannot get a state permit and cannot use her Arizona license here either, since Oregon does not recognize carry permits issued by other states.
The lawsuit, Ladd v. Hunter, was filed last Friday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon and assigned case number 6:2026cv01883, according to court records reviewed by Justia. The case has been assigned to Magistrate Judge Amy E. Potter and names both Sheriff Hunter, in his official capacity, and the City of Salem as defendants, according to OregonLive.com, whose reporting on the filing was written by Maxine Bernstein for the outlet's public safety desk.
Salem bans the unlicensed possession of loaded guns within city limits, and Ladd's complaint alleges that her nonresident status should not strip her of the right to bear arms in public for self-defense, per the OregonLive.com report. A spokesperson for Salem, Robert B. Layne II, declined to comment, citing the pending litigation, the outlet noted.
Why Ladd Can't Simply Apply for a Permit
Under Oregon law, a concealed handgun license applicant generally must be either an Oregon resident or a nonresident living in one of the state's bordering states — Washington, Idaho, Nevada, and California, according to the OregonLive.com report. Because Arizona does not touch Oregon's border, Ladd cannot apply at all. Even nonresidents from those four bordering states must go through a county sheriff near their home state, and Oregon county sheriffs retain discretion over whether to process those applications in the first place.
Oregon Revised Statute 166.291(8) spells out that discretionary authority, allowing sheriffs to issue licenses to nonresidents of contiguous states only if they demonstrate a compelling business interest, according to Oregon Legislative Information. Many Oregon sheriffs further restrict those nonresident applications to people who work or own property within their county, per the OregonLive.com report. Applicants generally must also be U.S. citizens or permanent residents who complete a certified handgun safety course, with permits valid statewide for four years.
The lawsuit challenges Oregon's rules under ORS 166.173, which let Oregon municipalities ban loaded open carry in public while exempting state-issued concealed handgun license holders, according to AmmoLand News. Under Oregon law, open carry is generally legal statewide unless a local government enacts its own loaded-firearm ban, the outlet reported. Salem is far from alone in doing so — at least eight other Oregon cities and counties, including Portland, Beaverton, Tigard, Oregon City, Astoria, Independence, Newport, and Multnomah County, have adopted similar ordinances barring loaded firearms in public for anyone without an Oregon license, according to the U.S. Concealed Carry Association.
Ladd's Next Move: Salem Meetings With Lawmakers
Ladd plans to travel to the Oregon State Capitol in Salem and meet with legislators within 90 days, according to the OregonLive.com report. Her case is one of several nationwide challenging residency barriers and out-of-state restrictions on concealed carry permits, the outlet noted, pointing to the U.S. Supreme Court's 2022 ruling in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen, which found New York's concealed carry laws unconstitutional and held that gun-control provisions must align with the text and historical tradition of the Second Amendment.
Gun Owners of America has pursued similar fights elsewhere. In March, the group filed Henrichs v. Kelly, challenging Illinois's refusal to recognize out-of-state concealed carry permits or allow residents of 43 states to apply for an Illinois nonresident permit, according to AmmoLand News. The group also previously led a state-court challenge in Harney County Circuit Court that successfully blocked Oregon's voter-approved Measure 114 gun control law from taking effect in late 2022, according to Oregon Public Broadcasting.
A Parallel Fight Already at the Supreme Court
Reciprocity disputes are playing out well beyond Oregon. The Liberty Justice Center petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court on September 11, 2026, asking the justices to reject Minnesota's concealed carry reciprocity law after the Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld it, according to the OregonLive.com report. That case involves a long-haul trucker who holds concealed carry permits from Florida and Georgia but must obtain a Minnesota license to legally carry there, since Minnesota only recognizes out-of-state permits from states with requirements similar to its own. The Eighth Circuit found that Minnesota's reciprocity law alone did not regulate arms-bearing conduct and ruled that the Second Amendment says nothing about requiring state-to-state permit reciprocity, per the same report.
States vary widely in how many out-of-state permits they honor, and Oregon recognizes only its own concealed carry licenses issued to residents, the OregonLive.com report noted. A federal judge in San Diego ruled in 2025 that California's prohibition on nonresidents applying for concealed carry permits violated the Second and Fourteenth Amendments, and California legislation now allows nonresidents to apply starting in January 2026, provided they state where in the state they primarily plan to travel. A congressional bill introduced in 2025 would require every state to honor concealed carry permits and laws from all other states; supporters say it protects Second Amendment rights during interstate travel, while critics argue it would override local safety standards and permit out-of-state carry without adherence to local vetting, according to the OregonLive.com report.
Wide Gaps in Oregon's Permit Numbers
Concealed handgun license ownership in Multnomah and Washington counties was fewer than 50 permit holders per 1,000 residents as of 2025, according to the Eugene Weekly. Lane County alone ranked fourth statewide in absolute permit counts, with roughly 25,000 holders, the outlet reported.
Oregon's 2021 Senate Bill 554 already tightened the landscape by raising base concealed handgun license application fees to $100 plus fingerprinting costs and expanding the authority of local governments and school districts to ban license holders from carrying inside public buildings and on school grounds, according to the Linn County Sheriff's Office. SB 554 raised fees and expanded local authority over where license holders may carry.
