Category: OFF Alerts

10.05.17

In a move that will surprise no one who has been paying attention for the last 30 years, the National Rifle Association has joined left wing legislators and establishment Republicans and called for still more restrictions on your gun rights.

Following the disclosure that “bump fire” stocks may have been used by the killer in the Las Vegas massacre, the NRA said :

“Despite the fact that the Obama administration approved the sale of bump fire stocks on at least two occasions, the National Rifle Association is calling on the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE) to immediately review whether these devices comply with federal law.”

Of course they comply with Federal law but the NRA lost no time jumping on board the gun control band wagon to demand that your rights be further eroded.

It would be easy to say that these stocks are not very useful, that it is very difficult to use them with any accuracy and they largely turn money into noise. But that’s not the point. Rest assured, the demands by the gun banners will not stop there, and now, once again, the NRA is giving comfort to the enemy in a display of ignorance and cowardice.

The fact is that banning these devices will have zero effect on anyone’s safety. For one thing, almost the same amount of carnage could have been created without them. Furthermore, with a bit of practice, a shooter can “bump fire” a rifle with NO modifications.

In fact, in a 2004 letter from Sterling Nixon, chief of BATF’s Firearms Technology Branch, Nixon determined that a shoelace was a machine gun. Yes a shoelace.

The letter said:

” In 1996,FTB examined and classified a 14 inch long shoestring with a loop at each end. The string was attached to the cocking handle of a semi-automatic rifle and was looped around the trigger and attached to the shooter’s finger. The device caused the weapon  to fire repeatedly until finger pressure was released from the string. Because this item was designed and intended to convert a semi-automatic rifle into a machine gun, FTB determined that is was a machinegun as defined in 26 U.S.C. 5845 (b)”

They won’t stop at stocks.

The killer could not have used bump fire stocks if he did not use rifles. Why not ban them?

Rest assured it’s not just novelty accessories the gun grabbers, with the help of the NRA, are after.

Now is not the time to start caving.  The NRA’s almost immediate capitulation was to be expected. In the coming days and months, there will be no end to  efforts to ban modern firearms and standard magazines and we don’t expect to have much help from the people who declared that no one should have the ability to protect themselves in places that serve alcohol… after the bloody “Pulse” massacre. The same people who declared that nobody, no teacher, no school staff, no parent should be allowed to be armed in a school except uniformed police.

The endless and predictable comments about nobody “needing” this firearm or that accessory must not blind us to the fact that our rights are our rights and need no explanation or justification.

If you are an NRA member, now would be a good time to tell them plainly that you are not going to accept them crawling into bed with the gun grabbers.

On another note, today was the deadline to turn in signatures to refer SB 719, the Brian Boquist gun confiscation bill, to the ballot. Unfortunately the effort fell short.

In a press release, the committee to repeal SB 719 stated :

“It wasn’t for lack of support.  We just simply did not have enough time.  I blame Governor Kate Brown for that,” said Chief Petitioner Mike Nearman, who is also a State Representative from House District 23.

According to Article IV of the Oregon Constitution, petitioners have 90 days from the end of the Legislative Session in which the bill was passed, which was July 7, 2017.  However, they cannot begin to gather signatures until the Governor signs the bill, which was not until August 15, 2017.

“The foot-dragging by Governor Brown cost us 39 of our 90 days.  To make matters worse, she signed the bill on the Friday before the eclipse, so that cost us an extra three days.  There was no reason to do this other than to keep us from gathering signatures and keep this issue from a vote of the people,” said State Representative Bill Post of House District 25, also a Chief Petitioner.”

Once again, the committee got no help from the NRA who refused to even acknowledge the effort.

It would have cost the NRA nothing to alert their members about this effort and direct them to the committee’s website, as Gun Owners of America did. But, as always, the NRA would rather “work with” gun grabbers than confront them.  Thanks to everyone who signed a petition and rest assured that battle is not over.

We are in for a long, tough fight. We have seen how little we can expect from NRA. If you want to help us stand up to the coming attacks, please consider supporting our efforts. You can contribute here. Thank you.

08.26.17

Ok folks, game on.

As you know, the Governor has signed the Boquist/Burdick gun confiscation bill. What you might not know is how few of our friends in law enforcement are even aware of it.

When the courts begin ordering the seizure of guns from people who have committed no crime, things are going to get real ugly in Oregon. So it’s time to go to work.

Rest assured, as the effort begins to repeal this vicious attack on our rights, New York billionaires will be pumping a fortune into our state to continue the lies that the supporters of this bill told to pass it. This will NOT be an easy fight but you can do something about it. And you can start now.

Please visit http://www.repeal719.com/  right now to download petitions to refer this bill to the voters. Please share this link with everyone you know who believes in liberty and due process, especially our friends in the rural parts of the state. Then… start gathering signatures. As many as you can.

The Repeal 719 website had both single signer sheets and 10 signature sheets if you are willing to gather other signatures. And why wouldn’t you be? These are your guns.

The website has everything you need to get going on this, including info on how to gather signatures and the reasons this bill is so dangerous.

Bring them to your gun club and share them with your friends.  We have, and the response has been great.

This is the first part of the fight, a part you can play a major role in.  After the referral is on the ballot, we will face a very expensive battle in a campaign against anti-gun billionaires but now we need SIGNATURES. We are NOT expecting any help from the National Gun Lobby. Please do your part.

The battle to overturn Brian Boquist’s gun confiscation law, SB 719, has begun. A ballot referendum has been filed and your help is critically important. We will provide updates with website information as it becomes available but for now please see the link on Bill Post’s website to get started fighting back against this outrageous attack on our rights and and common sense. http://billpost.us/2017/08/24/repeal-719-ballot-referendum-initiative/

On August 16th, Kate Brown signed SB 719 into law.

This bill, sponsored by Senators Brian Boquist and Ginny Burdick, allows the police to confiscate firearms from people who have been neither convicted of, nor accused of a crime. These confiscations will be based solely on ex parte testimony of people who need have no mental health credentials but can claim that another person is a threat to themselves or others.

Testimony from mental health professionals may NOT be considered. The respondent will receive no notice of this action and no opportunity to defend himself against the order until after his firearms have been confiscated. 

The bill offers no help for people who are suicidal and no protection for people living with someone who is genuinely dangerous.

You may lose your guns if you have ever had a DUI or if you have legally purchased a firearm in the last 6 months.

 

07.05.17

Senate Bill 719, Brian Boquist’s gun confiscation bill, is scheduled for a vote on the House floor tomorrow.

06.22.17

You know in any confrontation, the most important thing to do is watch your opponent’s hands. Their words can’t hurt you, their actions can.

Although the Democrats in the Oregon Legislature announced that the close of the session was “imminent” at the end of May, there is no sign that they will be going home before the Constitutionally mandated end date of July 10.

But as we told you, that announcement allowed both House and Senate Committees to schedule action on bills with virtually no notice.

This session, the big sticking point has been, of course, the Democrats desire to jack up taxes, which they could not do legally without some Republican support. It was this leverage that might have allowed the Republicans to impede the passage of the anti-gun bills that are still alive in the legislature.

The Democrats have found creative ways to pass tax increases without the legally required “super-majority” and the Republicans have started caving in to tax increases they could have stopped.

In the House, Republican Sal Esquivel joined the Democrats to pass HB 2391A, a bill to tax health insurance of all things. When the bill went to the Senate, Republicans Jackie Winters, Fred Girod and Republican leader Ted Ferrioli joined the Democrats and sent the bill to the governor.

These capitulations, and the announced intention of the Democrats not to seek new corporate taxes (which is not a sure thing while they are still in Salem) may very well mean the Democrats can turn their attention to other mischief.

Many of you have contacted OFF asking what the current status of anti-gun bills in Salem are.

Currently, there are two anti-gun bills still in play in Salem. SB 719, the Boquist/Burdick gun confiscation bill, and SB 1065, the Prozanski, Burdick, Williamson omnibus anti-gun bill.

Both of these bills are sitting in committees that do not have deadlines for completing their work, which means they can still take action to pass these gun grabbing bills.

As you may know, anti-gun extremist,  billionaire Mike Bloomberg, is once again pouring money into the state to run ads promoting the anti-gun bills.  You may have heard Multnomah County Sheriff (and Bloomberg lackey) Mike Reese pushing Bloomberg’s agenda on the air.  (Reese has become a reliable mouthpiece for the anti-gun left.)

There is still plenty of time for the committees holding these bills, and the entire legislature, to ram them through.

So we are asking you to do what you can to counter Bloomberg’s money bomb and reach out to the legislature once again in opposition to these dangerous bills.

Even if you have done so in the past, the legislators need to know we are watching them and Bloomberg’s stooges and we won’t stand for more attacks on our rights.

You can take action against SB 719  here:

You can take action against SB 1065 here:

Thank you for your continued support.

Oregon Firearms Federation is entirely funded by your generosity. Please consider making whatever donation you can afford to keep us fighting for you.

Any amount helps.

You can support our efforts here . 

Are you receiving alerts but are not yet a member? We’d love to have you join us. For more info click here.

 

5.31.17

The Oregon Legislature has announced that “sine die” is “imminent.”

“Sine Die” means the last day of the legislative session. (Literally “without a date.”)

While this does not mean we actually have an announced day for closing the circus down, it does mean the rules change.  Once this announcement has been made, the notice required of when hearings are going to take place goes down to as little as an hour.

(Unless of course, you are an anti-gun activist. Then, if the past is any indication, you will get advance notice.)

So unless you are camped out in the Capitol, you will not get a chance to testify on any pending legislation. You are particularly out of luck if you live in a rural county any distance from Salem.  The very design of this rule shuts out the voices of citizens who live in most parts of the state.

It is essential that you take a moment, one more time, to express your opposition to the two dangerous anti-gun bills that are still in play.

SB 719 and SB 1065.

SB 719, the Boquist/Burdick gun confiscation bill has passed in the Senate and now sits in the House Rules Committee.

SB 1065 (an outrageous omnibus anti-gun bill) has been assigned to the Senate Rules Committee.  These committees are not subject to the deadlines most committees face, so they can act on these bills at any time with virtually no notice.

Please take action against SB 719 here:

Please take action against SB 1065 here:

 

 

05.22.17

The legislature’s three leading gun grabbers have introduced yet another omnibus anti-gun bill. This one, SB 1065 includes language from several previous anti-gun bills that died due to a procedural error made by Floyd Prozanski, a sponsor of this bill.

The bill is a 26 page monstrosity, but here are the lowlights.

Among many other things this bill does, it nearly quintuples the length of time the State Police can deny you a firearms transfer with no cause.

It also drastically complicates the process for getting a concealed handgun license . Online classes will be prohibited unless the class is provided by the NRA or an “Oregon law enforcement agency or association. “

There are currently many other online class options for CHL courses. This bill would prohibit them all and give an almost exclusive online monopoly to NRA and the Oregon State Sheriffs Association.

(It’s interesting to note that several years ago, NRA informed its instructors that if instructors offered their own online classes they risked having their certification revoked.  More recently NRA changed their rules so that NRA classes could only be completed by students who took the NRA’s online class. Even more recently, NRA reversed course again and agreed to allow certified NRA instructors to give complete NRA classes.)

The bill also requires live fire, something many NRA instructors are not in a position to offer, and it requires “training in the safe loading, unloading, storing and carrying of handguns and information on Oregon and relevant federal laws governing the lawful use of a firearm, including self-defense, the use of force, including deadly force, and the transportation and concealment of handguns.”

While NRA instructors should certainly be qualified to train in loading, unloading and carrying of handguns, (and we hope this would be a normal part of any class), very few are qualified to teach Oregon laws and, in fact, NRA discourages instructors from getting into a discussion of statutes. Nowhere in this bill is there any discussion of what would make a person qualified to teach Oregon and Federal laws on self defense, or the use of force or deadly force. Not only would this bill prevent most instructors from teaching a CHL class to begin with, since most don’t have ranges, but the potential liability to instructors is staggering.

We have no doubts that, should this bill pass, we will soon be faced with a requirement that CHL classes must be taught by lawyers. Think about the restrictions that will place on class availability and the added expense.

Of course, there is nothing that has happened in the almost 30 years that Oregon has offered CHL’s that indicates any of this is necessary.

This bill does many other bad things and has serious technical flaws, but its clear intent is to create more obstacles and impediments to lawful firearms ownership.

Please take action now and tell the Oregon Senate to vote no on SB 1065.

 

05.16.17

They’re back.

After the failure of their last bill that sought to force gun dealers into the mental health business, House Rep (and gubernatorial hopeful) Knute Buehler and anti-gun extremist Senator Elizabeth Hayward are back with a watered down version.

HB 3460, introduced today, would require the Oregon Health Authority to create “a firearm safety and suicide prevention program.”

The obvious implication is that firearms lead to suicide. The material created would be sent to gun dealers who would then be expected to distribute the material (“multiple versions of which would be created to reflect the different local values and cultures within this state”).

During the hearing for their last attempt at this, after the initial bill had been amended to make distribution of this material voluntary, the supporters of the bill made no secret of their plan to force it to be mandatory after a year or two when it inevitably failed to reduce suicides.

While the new version calls for “consultation with firearm rights groups” it does not name them and you can be sure those groups will be Bloomberg sponsored sham groups that put “gun safety ” in their names but work overtime to eliminate gun ownership. We certainly were not “consulted” about the language in this latest bill.

This charade bill has not yet been assigned to a committee but since it is very late in the session we expect it to go to the House Rules Committee.

This is the same committee that has Boquist’s gun confiscation bill, SB 719 ,and is more anti-gun than the Judiciary Committee where their last bill (HB 2526) went and died.

We will let you know when hearings are scheduled for these pointless and counterproductive attacks on your rights.

05.09.17

Senate Bill 719, Brian Boquist’s gun confiscation bill has been assigned by Speaker Tina Kotek to the House Rules Committee.

Under normal circumstances this bill would have gone to the House Judiciary Committee, but Kotek, fearing that the Chair of that committee, Democrat Jeff Barker, was not sufficiently anti-gun to guarantee the bill’s passage out of committee, sent it instead to the Rules Committee.

The Rules Committee is chaired by Jennifer Williamson who is an anti-gun extremist. You may recall that it was Williamson who was pushing for indefinite delays on firearm’s purchases if the State Police did not complete a background check, even after she testified that the State Police are wrong 95% of the time they delay firearm’s transfers.

All the Democrats who make up the majority of the Rules Committee have track records of anti-gun extremism. But we need to contact them and express our opposition anyway.

Remember, under SB 719 a “family member,” who may not have seen you in decades, can demand that your rights and your property be confiscated by the police. This “family member” need have no credentials in mental health.  The Judge who imposes this order against you will be, at best, trained in law, NOT mental health.

Under SB 719, you won’t even know there is a court order against you until the police arrive to confiscate your firearms. You can lose your gun rights simply for having purchased a gun in the past! You can lose your gun rights if you have ever had a DUI. (Of course, you don’t lose your car.)

If you contest the court’s order, they may NOT consider any “mental health diagnosis.”  So if a mental health professional has concluded you are not mentally ill, the court may not consider that!

The proponents of this bill have blatantly lied about its purpose and its ramifications. The House Rules Committee is stocked with anti-gun, radical Democrats who will ignore reason and ram this through. The committee that should have heard this bill has been bypassed by House Speaker Tina Kotek to ensure passage to the full House Floor.

Even if you have taken action before we need you to double down on your efforts to let the House members know how outrageous, counterproductive, and dangerous this bill is.

Please use this link to take action and reach all members of the Oregon House.

 

05.03.17

 

Today Mike Strickland was sentenced for the crime of defending himself against a mob of Portland’s state protected thugs.

If you are not familiar with the story, you can catch up here.

Mike was sentenced to 40 days in jail, community service, probation and fines. He has had his right to work as a videographer stripped from him for reasons no one can logically explain.

He is currently homeless.

Yes, it could have been far worse. For defending himself, Mike was facing 50 years in prison.

The Multnomah County DA and the “judge” made no secret of their vendetta against a conservative journalist who has, for years, exposed the lies and hypocrisy of the left in Oregon. D.A. Rod Underhill refused to prosecute a leftist thug (Skye Ftizgerald) who attacked, injured, and robbed Strickland on camera.

At the sentencing, the judge ignored black letter Oregon law and said the Mike had “other options” than to defend himself. (Yes, he could have simply taken the beat down.) But in Oregon there is no duty to retreat from attackers, a reality the hack who sentenced Mike either ignored or is too stupid to know. The judge decreed that Mike had not acted in self-defense. We can only hope and pray that one day “Judge” Thomas Ryan, who had never been more than a public defender before he weaseled a job as a judge, faces a mob of the kind of animals Mike was attacked by.

Mike’s conviction will be appealed. There is a concurrent possibility of a new trial outside  of the appeal process.

The case of Mike Strickland is a terrifying example of what happens when anti-rights, politically driven zealots gain positions of power as DA’s and judges.

This battle is far from over. We want to thank everyone who has contributed so generously to Mike’s defense. Each of you is a hero in your own right.

There will be lots of new legal expenses as we continue to fight this injustice. If you believe that self defense should not be a crime in Oregon and would like to help us fund this case, please consider making a donation here.

Thank you for your commitment to sanity and liberty.

05.01.17

On the  communist holiday of “May Day” the Oregon Senate passed, on an almost party line vote, the Boquist/Burdick gun grab, SB 719A. Senator Betsy Johnson was the only Democrat voting “no.”  Boquist was the only Republican voting “yes.” The Democrats immediately issued a press release calling the vote “non-partisan.” 

Senator Boquist’s floor speech revealed a very different interpretation  of what “due process” is than what we believe.

Under this bill you get an opportunity to prove your innocence only after you have been punished with the confiscation of your property and the elimination of your rights.

Boquist claimed that “there is a process” for confiscating legally owned Class III items under this bill but neglected to say what it was. When we contacted ATF several weeks ago they said they knew of no such process and one Chief of Police told us he had no idea how this could be done legally.

We want to thank Senators Kim Thatcher, Dennis Linthicum and Alan Olsen for their testimony in opposition to this dangerous bill. We also want to thank Senator  Kruse who along with Thatcher, Linthicum and Olsen approved and distributed a floor letter OFF wrote in opposition.

The bill now moves to the House where will do all we can to derail it. It’s not clear at this point what committee it will be assigned to so please contact all Oregon House members to express your opposition to this assault on your rights.

Take action here.