03.20.08
MEDFORD TEACHER APPEAL FILED, POLITICAN MAKES ANTI-GUN THREAT, OTHER
GUN OWNERS IN THE CROSSHAIRS.
As
you know, a district court in southern Oregon ruled that teachers
give up their right to protect themselves and others when they
accept a job in a public school.
Yesterday, attorney Jim
Leuenberger filed a brief
appealing the decision, a decision which directly contradicts
the extremely plain language of Oregon law. Oregon law says,
in no uncertain terms, that only the Oregon Legislature may
make rules to restrict possession of firearms.
And now, we will need your help again. The costs for
the case are mounting, but it's essential that we see it through
to a conclusion.
You see, the Oregon Firearms Educational Foundation is not only
funding Ms. Katz's case. In addition to all our past litigation,
OFEF has also come to the aid of other gun owners. We have been
working to help provide funds for David
Bacon, currently fighting an outrageous Federal charge.
We have provided legal aid to a gun owner who was pulled over
in Portland in a "routine" traffic stop. When the
officer discovered the driver had a concealed handgun license,
he became incensed and threatened the driver with revocation
because he had failed to inform the officer he had a license,
something the driver had NO obligation to do.
He then called for "back-up" and numerous other Portland
Police officers arrived to intimidate the driver, who had done
nothing wrong. (In fact, even the traffic violation was dropped.)
But the officer insisted he was going to arrange to revoke this
man's license. (To hear audio of the clueless cop discussing
the "requirement" to volunteer that you have a CHL,
click here.)
OFEF is providing legal services to this gentleman in his efforts
to seek discipline for the officer in question.
OFEF is also assisting a businessman who was arrested
at gunpoint by a Clackamas County Deputy Sheriff for
having a handgun on the seat of his pickup. The only problem?
It's perfectly legal to have a handgun on the seat of your car.
In fact, if you don't have a CHL and there is no place in your
vehicle to store a gun where it's "not readily accessible,"
having it on the seat beside you is virtually the only LEGAL
way to transport a handgun. Once again, an innocent gun owner
is the victim of
ignorant or vindictive police.
You can see why I need your help. Contributions to OFEF
are entirely tax deductible, and only together can we afford
to confront the growing number of abuses against gun owners
in Oregon. Remember, you could easily be next.
You can make a secure, online donation
here.
As I said, your donation to OFEF qualifies for a tax deduction,
and with a growing number of cases of attacks on gun owners,
we have never needed your generous support more.
Some legislators have already vowed to expand the restrictions
on gun owners in the 2009 session. House Rep Peter Buckley of
Ashland, has promised to introduce a bill to ban self-defense
guns at schools, just as his cohort Ginny
Burdick (503)244-1444 has tried to do over and over for
years.
Buckley (541)482-9885
is apparently unaware of the number of people who have been
gunned down in schools across the country because of the kind
of policies he is proposing.
All this comes on the heels of the much anticipated "Heller"
case which was heard on Tuesday.
While media outlets across the country have largely concluded
that the majority of Justices will support an "individual
right" theory of the Second Amendment, many gun rights
organizations reacted in astonishment when the lawyer attempting
to overturn Washington DC's gun ban, agreed that "reasonable
restrictions" on gun rights would be acceptable and that
Americans had no legitimate right to own machine guns, a point
directly contradicting his own reliance on the "Miller"
case. Gun Owners of America expressed "shock and horror"
and local organizations likened the comments to Pearl Harbor
except that we were not torpedoing our own ships.
The outcome of this is far from clear. But we should assume
that no matter what happens there will be much work to do to
keep our rights.
The Chief of Police of Washington DC had some comments after
the case that can only be described, (and then only with great
generosity) as incoherent.
There is no question that DC has a serious issue with the quality
of the people it puts in positions of power. We believe we may
have already found their next Chief.
03.20.08
