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OFF ALERT 02/10/07 PROGRESS ON GOOD BIILS |
Some
Good Bills Make Progress.
Two bills of importance to gun owners got quiet, but important
action this week.
Senate
Bill 81 passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee and
House
Bill 2370 passed out of the Joint Committee on Emergency
Preparedness.
SB
81 would require that persons charged with crimes involving
"domestic violence," be informed prior to pleading
guilty or no contest, that Federal law could prohibit them from
owning firearms for life.
This bill was requested by the Governor for the Oregon Military
Department.
Since there is no exception in Federal law for military or police,
you can see the motivation.
Domestic violence accusations ensnare countless gun owners annually,
so this bill is a positive change. The bill still has a long
way to go before becoming law, but at least we know it's not
likely to face a veto threat.
House
Bill 2370 is not a "gun" bill but it has a major
provision that will be important to gun owners.
The bill: "Creates Office of Homeland Security and Emergency
Management in Oregon Military Department. "
This bill turns over tremendous powers in emergencies to the
Oregon Military Department.
Anyone who has seen the video of National Guardsmen invading
private homes in New Orleans and confiscating legally owned
guns in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, would have justifiable
concerns about this.
The bill, however, has been amended
to forbid any government agency from confiscating guns in times
of emergency.
House Rep. Wayne
Krieger requested the amendment and it passed unanimously.
Thanks to Representative Krieger for the amendment and to Senator
Gary George
for his work on this important change.
This bill now goes to the Ways and Means Committee.
Although this committee is not supposed to make substantive
changes to any part of the bill that is not fiscal, there are
ways they can do it, so we will need to be watching it.
As with SB
81, there is still a long process before this bill can become
law, but in both cases gun owners are making progress. |
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© 2000 - 2011, Oregon Firearms Federation. All Rights Reserved.
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