Amid an unprecedented spike in violent crime in Portland, Oregon, voters will be deciding this election if stronger gun control is the answer. 

Ballot Measure 114 would add Oregon to the list of 14 states that currently require people to obtain a permit before buying a gun. However, Oregon’s law would be the only one that mandates a live-fire safety class approved by the state police and administered by local law enforcement.

"It is impossible for us to do what they’re asking us to do," said Sheriff Brad Lohrey of Oregon’s Sherman County. 

With just six people in the whole Sheriff’s Department in rural Eastern Oregon, Lohrey says he does not have a state-approved gun range nor the personnel to give a live fire training course to anyone who wants to buy a gun.

The Oregon State Sheriff’s Association opposes Measure 114, citing the burden it would place on financially-strapped law enforcement agencies. Officials say it would delay law-abiding citizens from being able to purchase guns by months or even longer.

However, the Oregon Firearms Federation has several other objections to the ballot measure, including the creation of a gun registry that would make public the personal information of everyone who applies for a permit to purchase. 

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"The measure is designed to absolutely guarantee that people will not have the means to protect themselves and to dox anybody who attempts to comply with the permit process," said Kevin Starrett, director of the Oregon Firearms Federation. 

Measure 114 is getting national attention from gun control groups and politicians trying to build on the first new federal gun safety legislation passed in decades earlier this year.