Duelling ban repeal a loaded question for Oregon voters

Oregon may have an unusual request for voters in the next election that harks back to that fateful summer day in 1804 when a bitter rivalry between US vice president Aaron Burr and the nation's first treasury secretary Alexander Hamilton was settled with a fatal gunshot.

Should ongoing discussions in Salem materialise, voters will see a question on their general election ballots asking if a 172-year-old ban on duelling by public officials - the old-fashioned way of resolving fights - should be erased from the Oregon constitution.