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 VICTORY |
09.28.11
Today, after several years of legal maneuvering, the Oregon
Appeals Court decided that the rules the Oregon University System
has had in place to ban lawful carry of firearms on their property
are invalid.
The opinion reaffirmed
what we have always held to be true. The law is the law.
This is a very important day for gun rights in Oregon. Our Educational
Foundation brought this
suit after Jeffery Maxwell, a Marine Corps veteran, was
unlawfully arrested on the campus of Western Oregon University
while in possession of a handgun for which he had an Oregon
concealed handgun license.
WOU's outrageous abuses of Maxwell are well documented, and
now we have at least some vindication.
Looking at the response
of the school system, it is clear that they will do all in their
power to circumvent the decision of the court, and we are confident
that this battle is by no means over. But today's ruling is
clearly a victory for gun owners, a victory for the Oregon Firearms
Educational Foundation, and most of all, a victory for every
one of you who stood by us, and, by your extraordinary generosity,
allowed us to see this through. To each of you, we offer our
thanks and gratitude.
Of course, there will be the predictable response by some of
the more extreme anti-rights politicians, so we need to prepare
for the up coming battles, but for now, congratulate yourselves
on a hard-earned victory.
We also want to thank those in the legislature
who stood up for the rights of Oregonians as this issue played
out.
Below is the most important part of today's decision.
Although the State Board of Higher
Education is an arm of the state, it is not the Legislative
Assembly. And while, as noted, the State Board of Higher Education
has general authority to control and manage its property, ORS
351.060, and to enact administrative rules, ORS 351.070(4)(b),
no argument can be reasonably made that OAR 580-022-0045(3)--which
regulates the very subject expressly preempted by ORS 166.170(1)--was
"expressly authorized" by the Legislative Assembly.
See ORS 166.170(1). Therefore, we conclude that OAR 580-022-0045(3)
is an exercise of an "authority to regulate" firearms
that is not expressly authorized by the Legislative Assembly,
and that it is preempted by ORS 166.170(1).1 Accordingly, the
rule exceeds the agency's authority, ORS 183.400(4)(b), and
is invalid.
OAR 580-022-0045(3) held invalid. |
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© 2000 - 2011, Oregon Firearms Federation. All Rights Reserved.
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