Today the Oregon House concurred with the Senate and re-passed House Bill 4045B. This bill is the heavily amended bill to provide some protections for CHL holders’ private information.
There were 6 “no” votes. That means that even in its greatly watered-down state, 6 House Democrats voted to keep as much information public as possible.
They were Bailey, Dembrow, Frederick, Greenlick, Nolan, and Tomei. They represent the worst of the worst in the Oregon House. The bill now goes to the Governor.
It’s interesting to note that while Floyd Prozanski (who had gutted and stuffed the bill on the Senate side) responded to a question from anti-gun zealot Ginny Burdick by saying “This is not my bill” he did add his name to it as a sponsor in its final form. Floyd seems to have some difficulty making up his mind. (And based on his recent email blast it may be worse than we thought. His most pointed attack on us is that we…oh the horror.. raise money! He also said we would be using him as a “whipping post.” We are pretty sure he meant “whipping boy.”)
As you know, the Oregon Senate rejected efforts to ban CHL firearms on school property yesterday. This decision was met with all the expected hysteria from the forces who so fear inanimate objects.
Today, the Oregon Higher Education Board passed new regulations created to try to circumvent the Appeals Court’s ruling that they (the Oregon University System) had no authority to regulate guns on campus. From the moment we won this case we knew this would be coming. Here is a quote from OUS spokeswoman Di Saunders: “If somebody leaned over and their jacket opened, and somebody saw a weapon, they’d be nervous or scared or concerned.”
Why these people would be more “scared or concerned” on campus than off is a matter of some speculation. But even that is not as ridiculous as this quote from Ben Eckstein, the U of O student body president:“A college campus is statistically one of the safest places on the planet. There’s a reason for that. We have a culture of peaceful, informed, engaged activism. A deadly weapon of any kind runs counter to that culture.”
Compare that to the mass email that was sent out to all staff and faculty at Mount Hood Community College on Feb. 29th. It said:
“This email is being sent to All Staff. Faculty are asked to remind students to check the announcements page on My MHCC for the following notification. Timely Notification Bulletin, Feb. 29, 2012 In compliance with the “Timely Notice” provisions of the federal Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act of 1998, Mt. Hood Community College (MHCC) is giving notice of a violent event reported to have occurred on the Gresham Campus last evening. REPORTED OFFENSE: A female student reported that a male assaulted her at approximately 6:20 p.m. while she was walking on the lane that runs behind the Academic Center. The female student broke free and reported the incident to the MHCC Public Safety department, which is working with Gresham Police to identify the suspect. SUSPECT: The female student described her attacker as 6 feet to six feet, two inches tall, approximately 30 years old, with tan skin. She also reported that he was wearing a dark baseball cap, a dark sweatshirt, blue jeans and either dark tennis shoes or dark boots. He possessed no facial hair. The College urges people on campus to exercise safety by being aware of their surroundings and reporting any suspicious behavior to Public Safety (emergency number: 503-491-7911). To request an escort by a Public Safety officer, call the non-emergency line: 503-491-7310.”
Clearly there is a disconnect here.
The Board of Higher Education and the Oregon University System have made every effort to ignore or circumvent the Oregon Appeals Court. By doing so they have put their staff and their students in danger. We strongly recommend that if you have any reason to be on Oregon University property, you do what they have done: ignore regulations. If the OUS feels free to pay no attention to the clear direction of the Oregon Courts, any rational person would pay no attention to their unlawful regulations.
If you are a CHL holder, carry your self-defense tool. The bureaucrats at the Higher Education Board have demonstrated that they have no interest in your safety. Take care of yourself.