166.397 Reporting loss or theft of firearm; penalties; civil liability. (1)(a) A person who owns, possesses or controls a firearm shall report the loss or theft of the firearm to a law enforcement agency in the jurisdiction in which the loss or theft occurred as soon as practicable but not later than within 72 hours of the time the person knew or reasonably should have known of the loss or theft.
(b) If a means of reporting a loss or theft of a firearm within 72 hours is not reasonably available, the person who owned, possessed or controlled the firearm that was lost or stolen must report the loss or theft within 24 hours of the means of reporting becoming available.
(c) A person may include the serial number of the firearm in a report under this subsection.
(2)(a) A violation of subsection (1) of this section is a Class B violation.
(b) Each firearm for which a person does not make the report within the time required by subsection (1) of this section constitutes a separate violation.
(c) A person who knowingly provides false information in a report required by subsection (1) of this section commits the crime of initiating a false report under ORS 162.375.
(3) If a lost or stolen firearm is used to injure a person or property and the person who owned, possessed or controlled the firearm at the time of the loss or theft did not report the loss or theft as required by subsection (1) of this section, in an action against the person who owned, possessed or controlled the firearm at the time of the loss or theft to recover damages for the injury, the violation constitutes negligence per se for two years from the expiration of the time limit for reporting or until the loss or theft report is made, whichever occurs sooner. The presumption of negligence may not be overcom
Stored review status: 2025_edition_later_amendments_unresolved. A text match is a research starting point; applicability is not established.
Official chapter context and edition notices
Chapter 166 — Offenses Against Public Order; Firearms and Other Weapons; Racketeering
Uncodified sections printed in this chapter were amended or repealed by the Legislative Assembly during its 2026 regular session. See the table of uncodified sections amended or repealed during the 2026 regular session: 2026 A&R Tables
New sections of law were enacted by the Legislative Assembly during its 2026 regular session and pertain to or are likely to be compiled in this ORS chapter. See sections in the following 2026 Oregon Laws chapters: 2026 Session Laws 0120
2025 EDITION
PUBLIC ORDER OFFENSES
CRIMES AND PUNISHMENTS
RIOT, DISORDERLY CONDUCT, HARASSMENT AND RELATED OFFENSES
BIAS CRIME
AUTHORITY TO REGULATE FIREARMS
POSSESSION AND USE OF WEAPONS
(Generally)
(Possession of Weapons in Public Buildings or Court Facilities)
(Destructive Devices)
(Duties of Firearm Owners and Possessors)
SALE OR TRANSFER OF FIREARMS
EXTREME RISK PROTECTION ORDERS
DISCHARGING WEAPONS
POSSESSION OF BODY ARMOR
MISCELLANEOUS
RACKETEERING
RIOT, DISORDERLY CONDUCT, HARASSMENT AND RELATED OFFENSES
File SHA-256: dd35e0da63555ebef88cc11cd6ae4309a37c3b744978829c3b2f00d59c0c08b8. The original may include catalog metadata, neighboring provisions, or embedded records outside this collection's scope. This page displays the selected Oregon section record with its printed versions and adjoining notes. Historical editions and unverified snapshots are not a statement of current law.
Authority boundary: official snapshot extraction not current law verified.
Stable record: oregon_criminal_law:legal_authorities:166.397 Source file: ors166.html Pages: Not recorded – Not recorded Passage SHA-256: 1c1810aedb54a031e75c44e638158d6f3573ff7690d1928c0bd5551c9792a964 Retained source evidence SHA-256: dd35e0da63555ebef88cc11cd6ae4309a37c3b744978829c3b2f00d59c0c08b8
Source location: ORS 166.397 (all printed versions and notes)
Stored source content
166.397 Reporting loss or theft of firearm; penalties; civil liability. (1)(a) A person who owns, possesses or controls a firearm shall report the loss or theft of the firearm to a law enforcement agency in the jurisdiction in which the loss or theft occurred as soon as practicable but not later than within 72 hours of the time the person knew or reasonably should have known of the loss or theft.
(b) If a means of reporting a loss or theft of a firearm within 72 hours is not reasonably available, the person who owned, possessed or controlled the firearm that was lost or stolen must report the loss or theft within 24 hours of the means of reporting becoming available.
(c) A person may include the serial number of the firearm in a report under this subsection.
(2)(a) A violation of subsection (1) of this section is a Class B violation.
(b) Each firearm for which a person does not make the report within the time required by subsection (1) of this section constitutes a separate violation.
(c) A person who knowingly provides false information in a report required by subsection (1) of this section commits the crime of initiating a false report under ORS 162.375.
(3) If a lost or stolen firearm is used to injure a person or property and the person who owned, possessed or controlled the firearm at the time of the loss or theft did not report the loss or theft as required by subsection (1) of this section, in an action against the person who owned, possessed or controlled the firearm at the time of the loss or theft to recover damages for the injury, the violation constitutes negligence per se for two years from the expiration of the time limit for reporting or until the loss or theft report is made, whichever occurs sooner. The presumption of negligence may not be overcome by a showing that the person acted reasonably.
(4) Subsection (3) of this section does not apply if the injury results from a lawful act of self-defense or defense of another person.
(5)(a) Within 24 hours of receiving a report under subsection (1) of this section, a law enforcement agency shall create a record concerning the lost or stolen firearm in the Law Enforcement Data System or another electronic database as determined by the Department of State Police.
(b) A law enforcement agency is exempt from the obligation described in paragraph (a) of this subsection if the agency is unable to create a record concerning the lost or stolen firearm in the electronic database due to insufficient information.
(c) The department may adopt rules to carry out the provisions of this subsection. [2021 c.146 §5]
SALE OR TRANSFER OF FIREARMS
Cross-references
Connections may be documented source relationships, shared citations or nearby passages. Each explains its basis; a connection alone does not establish applicability to your situation.
Oregon criminal law — ORS Title 16 (2025 snapshot) · legal_authorities
162.375 Initiating a false report. (1) A person commits the crime of initiating a false report if the person knowingly initiates a false alarm or report that is transmitted to a fire department, law enforcement agency or other organization that deals with emergencies involving danger to life or property.
(2) Initiating a false report is a Class A misdemeanor.
(3)(a) The court shall include in the sentence of any person convicted under this section a requirement that the person repay the costs incurred in responding to and investigating the false report.
(b) If the response to the false report involved the deployment of a law enforcement special weapons and tactics (SWAT) team or a similar law enforcement group, the court shall impose, and may not suspend, a term of incarceration of:
(A) At least 10 days.
(B) At least 30 days if the deployment resulted in death or serious physical injury to another person. [1971 c.743 §212; 2013 c.490 §1; 2015 c.751 §2; 2018 c.120 §9]