This past November, voters in Oregon voted by a razor-thin margin to approve a set of highly restrictive new gun control rules.

That law has since faced a legal challenge, however, and a recent state Supreme Court decision dealt it a major setback. 

State Supreme Court refuses request

According to Fox News, members of Oregon's highest judicial body decided on Thursday not to overturn an injunction issued by a lower court blocking the measure.

The request came from the Oregon Department of Justice, who objected to Circuit Court Judge Robert Raschio's order.

Fox News quoted Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum as saying that her office will "continue to defend the law zealously in the Harney County court. My office takes the position that the law passed by Oregonians last November is totally proper and legal under the U.S. and Oregon constitutions."

Bill limits magazines, requires license to buy a gun

Fox News reported last year that the ballot measure, known as the Reduction of Gun Violence Act, imposes some of America's most far-reaching restrictions of the right to bear arms.

One of its provisions limits magazine capacity to 10 rounds, with an exception included for current owners, law enforcement officers, and members of the military.

Another component requires that those wishing to purchase a firearm first obtain a license. In order to qualify for a license, applicants must first complete an approved firearm safety course, pay a fee, provide personal information, be photographed and fingerprinted as well as undergo a criminal background check.

Oregon State Shooting Association President Kerry Spurgin told Fox News in October that the law would "virtually eliminate firearm sales in Oregon as written."

Gun sales rise after law's passage

"This is the most extreme gun control measure in the country, or at least one of the most extreme," Spurgin went on to insist.

Also criticizing the restrictions was Deschutes County Sheriff Shane Nelson, who was quoted as saying that it "will not make our community safer."

"It will put our communities at greater risk for violence because it requires that every sheriff's office and police agency divert scarce public safety resources to background systems that already exist," Nelson declared.

Interestingly, Fox News reported in December that firearm sales in the Beaver State had "exploded" as people sought to acquire weapons and magazines before the Reduction of Gun Violence Act took effect.

Gun shop owner Karl Durkheimer told the network that his store's "parking lot has been a disaster" while streets around the business were also crowded.