Category: OFF Alerts

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They Have Gone Home….

03.03.16

 

Today, March 3rd, marked the end of the 2016 legislative session.

These even-year, short sessions were sold as an opportunity to address emergencies and budget issues and nothing more. Instead, this session was used by Oregon Democrats to push complex, expensive and divisive measures in a time frame that allowed little debate, and little analysis.

The Republicans in the legislature did what they could to stand in the way, but the numbers being what they are, the left got most of what it wanted.

What it did NOT get, is more restrictions on your Second Amendment rights.

SB 1551, a horrible, Soviet style, bill designed to take away gun rights through secret, unfounded, and unproven allegations was derailed early in the session by your incessant activism.  The bill did show, once more, the true intentions of Floyd Prozanski, whose war on gun owners was stepped up after the people of his district sought to recall him.

Next we faced HB 4147. This bill, by anti-gun extremist Jennifer Williamson, sought to eliminate the one small safeguard the law provides for people who are delayed on purchases of firearms with no justification. Her intention was to allow the Oregon State Police to deny a purchase forever simply because their own databasing and background checks are so faulty.

Anti-gun billionaire, Michael Bloomberg, flew in victims of the Charleston church shooting to add a layer of theatrics to their false charge that this meager safeguard was a “loophole.” In fact, nothing in this bill would have prevented that shooting and the sponsors and supporters of the bill all knew that.

It was the typical craven lies of the right’s haters and the entrepreneurial victims lobby.  Dozens of stories were told of how this bill would protect  women from domestic abuse, all of which were false, and an amendment, introduced by House Rep Sherrie Sprenger, which actually would have protected victims of domestic violence, was defeated in a party line vote by the Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee, led by House Rep Jeff Barker.

Barker, who has long stood as the most pro-gun Democrat in the Oregon House turned hard left this session and led the charge to pass the bill and defeat any pro-gun amendments. While he did reduce the time the State Police could delay a purchase from forever to ten days, the reality is ten days could still be a death sentence for a person facing a deadly threat.  So the bill clearly hurt most, the people it pretended to protect.

Barker assigned the bill’s sponsor, Jennifer Williamson, the role of carrying the bill on the House floor. But somehow, before the floor debate, Barker was forced to carry the bill himself. No doubt this was punishment imposed on Barker by House Speaker Tina Kotek  for Barker’s past support of gun rights and his refusal to support SB 941 last year.

The bill passed the House by the single vote needed for passage. The vote was 31 to 28 with three Democrats voting “no”:  Brad Witt, Caddy McKeown and Deborah Boone. (Boone voted for SB 941 last year.) The bill was assigned to the Senate Rules Committee within minutes of passing the House.

Throughout the process, OFF supporters worked tirelessly to stop this terrible, right’s stripping bill.  It seemed like once again, what Bloomberg paid for he was going to get, but because you never gave up, the bill was laid to rest in the Senate Committee.  With all the division and rancor the Democrats had created, they just did not have the stomach for another gun fight.

Make no mistake, you made the difference. It was your efforts that killed this dangerous and evil bill. You have much to be proud of.

So congratulate yourself on a  job well done. Enjoy a short breather, and then gear up. Elections are coming and your participation is critical. You have seen once again that your voice matters. Make sure your vote matters.

2017 will be here before you know it.  There will be many more Bloomberg funded attacks on our rights.

Thanks for all you have done for Oregon and your support for the Oregon Firearms Federation.

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Don’t Stop Now

02.26.16

Yesterday the Oregonian reported that the Williamson/Barker bill to add more restrictions to your ability to purchase a firearm was likely dead in the Senate.

The bill uses a totally fabricated “loophole” to allow the State Police to deny you a purchase (with no justification) even longer than they can now.

The reality is that the current law which allows, (but does not require) a gun dealer to transfer a firearm after three business days have “elapsed” contains a safeguard, not a “loophole.”  The purpose of the safeguard was to address the kinds of problems we see in Oregon every single day, where qualified buyers are delayed and denied by the Oregon State Police for no reason.

As we have said over and over, adding time to these delays (the original bill would have allowed the delay to be forever) could very well be a death sentence to a person whose life was in jeopardy.

An amendment that was offered by Republican Sherrie Sprenger, which would have offered some small protection to victims of domestic violence, was immediately shot down by Chair Jeff Barker and the rest of the Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee.

The bill was sent to the House floor where it passed with the absolute fewest number of votes needed. Three Democrats joined all the House Republicans who voted no.

Within minutes the bill was read in the Senate and assigned to the Senate Rules Committee.

As you may know, the Democrats in the legislature have been doing everything they can to ram through complex and dangerous bills in a short session that was never intended for this kind of legislation.  The Republicans have been doing all they can to slow down the worst of these bills.

So now the rumor is that the Senate President, Peter Courtney, does NOT want to have HB 4147 come to the Senate floor for what will surely be another divisive battle, especially not in an election year.

But make no mistake.  This bill is not officially dead, and in the past Courtney has revived bills that were officially dead, given them a new bill number and tried to slip them through in the closing moments of the session.  We have no reason to think he won’t try it again.

The future of this bill is now in the hands of Courtney.  We have seen him pull or condone shifty moves in the past.

Please contact him and tell him to keep HB 4147 off the floor.

Talking points:

There is no “Charleston Loophole”  The killer in Charleston got his gun because of a long series of mistakes on the part of law enforcement, not because of the 3 day safeguard.

The people who will be hurt most by this bill are the victims of domestic violence who need a firearm NOW. Abusers and mass killers have plenty of time to plan their acts and acquire whatever weapons they want to use.

The State Police do a terrible job now of conducting background checks and ignore most requests for corrections unless a gun friendly legislator calls them. Gun owners in Democrat districts are on their own.

Gun dealers already have the discretion to not complete a transfer, and many won’t. But it makes no sense to tell a dealer he cannot complete a transfer of a firearm, to someone he knows well, for up to 15 days. 

It is common for the OSP to delay a transfer for someone one day, and approve one the next day while the original delay is still in effect. The system simply does not work and the people of Oregon should not be punished for the failure of the state’s system.

Courtney can be reached at 503-986-1600, or by email at:  sen.petercourtney@state.or.us

The anti-rights extremists are doubling down to push this bill through.  Courtney needs to hear from you today.

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Anti-Gun Bill Passes House (Just Barely)

02.22.16

House Bill 4147 has passed out of the House with 31 “yes” votes, the bare minimum required.

Three Democrats voted “no”, Brad Witt, Deborah Boone and Caddy McKeowan.

As expected, the anti-rights zealots trotted out many stories of domestic violence and mass killings, not a single one of which would have been affected by this bill.

House Rep Jeff Barker and others twisted the truth by claiming that this bill would not endanger victims of domestic violence.  This is 100% false.  He mentioned the provision in last year’s SB 941 that allows a person facing “imminent danger” to borrow a firearm and implied that somehow this allowed them to get a gun from a dealer without a background check.

(Barker admitted that not a single mass shooting in the last 5 years would have been prevented by this bill.)

The fact is, SB 941 is so badly written that it is highly unlikely that a woman who feared for her life would be able to acquire a firearm for protection, and even if she did, she could only get it from a private party, not a dealer.

Those victims who simply don’t have friends or family members who not only own guns but are willing to put themselves in legal jeopardy to lend one, are simply out of luck.

The proponents of the bill all agree this is only a step towards more restrictions. The bill now moves to the Senate where  it has been assigned to the Senate Rules Committee.

This bill is going to move very quickly.  Please contact the Rules Committee and your State Senator and urge a “No Vote”

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Anti-Gun Bill Postponed Again Till Monday

02.19.16

HB 4147, Jennifer Williamson’s attack on victims of domestic violence was scheduled for a vote on the House Floor today after being bumped off yesterday’s schedule.

The bill is now scheduled to be heard Monday. That gives us a few more days to keep up the pressure.  If this dangerous bill passes, the most vulnerable members of our community, victims of stalkers, predators and domestic abusers, will be forced into an even worse system than the one they suffer with now. A woman who fears for the safety of herself and her children will be told she has to wait at least ten days to get a self defense firearm but she could be denied indefinitely if she cannot find a sympathetic gun dealer.

This time delay could be a death sentence.

Please use the automailer below to send a message to the legislature to vote NO on this terrible bill. A copy of the message follows:

Dear Legislator:

I hope I can count on you to protect the victims of domestic violence. If HB 4147 passes, women who are in danger from stalkers and domestic predators will be at the mercy of a flawed system that can literally deny them protection forever.

Currently, gun dealers have the option, but not the requirement, to provide a life saving firearm to a domestic violence victim after three days if the OSP background check fails. The sponsor of this bill has testified that the check provides false delays 95% of the time!

This is dangerous and unacceptable and puts the most vulnerable at great risk. Extending that delay achieves nothing but creating more fear for people who have nothing to protect themselves but a paper restraining order.  Please don’t buy into the misleading narrative that these victims can simply “borrow a gun from a friend.”  Very few people have friends willing to lend them a firearm especially now with the vague and confusing language of SB 941, which puts all gun owners at risk. Gun dealers should have to option of transferring a firearm to a person they know. Protect victims of domestic violence, vote NO on HB 4147.

 

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Anti-Gun Bill Moved To Tomorrow

02.18.16

The Oregon House did NOT vote on HB 4147 today.

The entire day was spent debating the Democrat’s minimum wage increase with a short break  for some leftist protestors who disrupted proceedings in both Houses.

HB 4147 has been moved to tomorrow’s schedule.

The Chair of the House Judiciary Committee, Jeff Barker, who was the deciding vote on not only passing HB 4147 out of committee, but also was responsible for killing an amendment that would have protected victims of domestic violence, assigned the bill’s chief sponsor, Jennifer Williamson to “carry” the bill on the House floor.  Although Barker (who has a history of being supportive of gun rights )  told one reporter that he might vote against the bill on the floor, after voting for it in committee,  Barker is now carrying the bill along with co-carrier Lew Fredrick. 

These are strange bedfellows since Barker was a police officer and Lew Fredrick has made a career of introducing anti-police bills. 

If it passes in the House tomorrow, it will be sent over to the Senate.  Because of deadlines it probably will NOT be assigned to Senate Judiciary, instead it will probably go to the Senate Rules Committee.

The Senate will announce tomorrow that they are going to one hour notice for hearings, which will effectively cut out almost all voter input into this bill since there will be almost no way for the average person to be in Salem in time to testify.

Please contact all members of the Legislature to voice your opposition. You can still use our autodialer at the bottom of this alert.

Also please consider contacting all members of the Rules Committee to express your opposition. One member of the committee, Brian Boquist, has long been a staunch supporter of gun rights.

Tragically, Senator Boquist’s son passed away on Tuesday.  Out of respect for Senator Boquist’s long support for our rights and his loss, we ask that you not contact his office. He is on our side and does not need to hear from us.

On a positive note, today we received a resolution from Linn County opposing HB 4147

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Vote Coming On Anti-Gun Bill

02.15.16

House Bill 4147 will be voted on in the House as early as tomorrow.

As you know, this bill is one more incremental attack on gun owners and another slap in the face to the most vulnerable Oregonians.  Rest assured, it is simply a stepping stone for more regulations and restrictions that the anti-gun majority in the Oregon Legislature have promised.

The deciding vote to pass this bill out of committee was cast by Chair Jeff Barker, who in the past has been a supporter of gun rights. Not only was he the deciding vote to move the bill to the full House for a vote, he was the deciding vote against an amendment that would have provided a small degree of protection to the victims of domestic violence.

Please, if you have not already done so, use the automailer at the bottom of this alert to tell legislators to vote “NO” on HB 4147.

And if you already have, please consider doing it again. It is just that important.

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Democrats Abandon Victims Of Domestic Violence

02.11.16

                                                     

The two bills we have been warning you about were scheduled for a work session today in the House Judiciary Committee.

House Bill 4045 and House Bill 4147  were both on the docket.  Both bills were trouble for gun owners with HB 4147 being big trouble.

4147 would allow indefinite delays of firearms transfers for people who are totally qualified to purchase but were stopped by an incompetent bureaucracy.

Today was the deadline for bills to move out of committee in the chamber where they originated.

Because of your efforts, HB 4045, which would have required mandatory minimum sentences for persons who may have inadvertently been in unlawful possession of a firearm, (such as a family member who borrowed your car before you removed every gun after a trip to the range) has died. Good work.

The even more egregious HB 4147 was amended to allow a firearms transfer after 10 days, which is still totally unacceptable. The amendment also calls for complicated mandatory reporting of any person who is denied a transfer. There are no protections for persons denied in error.

An amendment that would have offered some safeguards to persons who are victims of domestic violence was, of course, voted down by all the Democrats, the same Democrats who claim to be the champions of victims of domestic violence.

Jeff Barker, the Chair of the Committee, who always supported gun rights in the past, folded on every motion and voted to pass the bill to the floor.

The bill now goes to the House Floor where we need to pull out all the stops to defeat it.

Please use our automailer to let legislators know where you stand on HB 4147.

The new automailer has the following message:

Dear Legislator,

HB 4147 is a vicious attack on the rights of law abiding gun owners.  It’s clear that liberals in the Oregon Legislature are working overtime to chip away at the rights of Oregonians. An amendment that would have provided safeguards for the victims of domestic violence was voted down in committee on a party line vote…by Democrats.
Vote “NO”  on HB 4147.

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WE STILL HAVE TIME TO STOP IT

02.05.16

UPDATE …. THIS BILL HAS BEEN SCHEDULED FOR A “WORK SESSION” ON WEDNESDAY.

As you know, HB 4147 was not acted on yesterday in the House Judiciary Committee. This bill will allow the Oregon State Police to deny you a lawful firearms transfer indefinitely. ( As in forever.)

Currently both Oregon and Federal law have safeguards for people who are unjustly prevented from purchasing firearms due to errors by the Oregon State Police.

Oregon’s safeguards are minimal and insufficient and every year thousands of Oregonians are denied their rights because of the flawed background check system and now the Democrats in the Oregon legislature want to remove even those small protections.

A “hearing” was held on the bill and out of staters were flown in by anti-gun billionaire Michael Bloomberg to promote this attack on your rights, but no vote was taken.

We MUST pull out all the stops to prevent this bill from becoming law. The bill’s own sponsor has admitted the system does not work. She has testified that 95% of people who are “delayed” are delayed with no justification. Yet now she wants them delayed forever.

Currently, the FBI, upon whom the Oregon State Police rely for information on background checks, is not even conducting investigations of  improper and unfounded delays.  So, if you are trying to buy a firearm and the State Police have bad information on you, you could very well be out of luck.  This kind of abuse is exactly why we have always opposed this prior restraint on a fundamental right.   This dangerous bill has a very good chance of passing and only you can stop it. The Chairman of the Committee, Jeff Barker, who has always voted pro-gun in the past has indicated he is prepared to vote for this bill and pass it out of committee. This is a very bad sign.

Please contact your legislators with the pre-written message below:

 

Dear Legislator,
House Bill 4147 would allow the Oregon State Police to prevent the lawful transfer of a firearm forever. The bill does not contain a single safeguard for people who are delayed on a firearms background check with no justification.
Current law has carefully crafted and seriously considered protections to prevent a faulty system from denying a person’s rights. They are not “loopholes.” They are safeguards. Small safeguards.
If you wonder why people are so distrustful of government intentions, this bill will explain it all.
The sponsor of the bill has testified that 95% of the people who are delayed by the State Police are delayed in error. If the person who is promoting this attack on our liberties admits this, what more do you need to oppose this dangerous legislation?
If people in your district were denied the right to vote because the Secretary of State had a faulty program, would  you explain that it was just a small inconvenience and they should not object to waiting six months or a year to exercise their rights?
If not, you must oppose this legislation.

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TOO MUCH, TOO FAST…

02.02.16

That’s how Floyd Prozanski described his own vendetta driven, anti-gun bill after he and other legislators received thousands of emails and calls opposing it.

Proving that your activism really does matter,  Prozanski has shelved his Soviet style bill and is saying it’s dead…for now.

Keep in mind, Ginny Burdick has already announced her plans for an even worse bill some time in the future, but for now it looks like your efforts have derailed their plans to use secret accusations from malicious people to crush your gun rights.  Great job and thank you.

Now we really need to double down on our efforts to kill HB 4147. This is Jennifer Williamson’s bill that will use the errors in the background check system as a way to deny gun rights to Oregonians. Under her bill if you are delayed on a purchase, no matter how qualified you are, a dealer may not allow you take possession until, (and if) the OSP gets around to giving you permission. And they can take literally forever.

Ironically, Williamson has publicly acknowledged that the system is flawed and “there’s nothing we can do about it.”  She has also expressed her “shock” at how many background checks are run, clearly displaying her disdain for lawful purchases.

Williamson’s bill would eliminate your ability to get a gun if the State Police cannot accurately conduct a background check, which is all too often a reality.  If they cannot do their jobs, you lose your rights with no recourse.  Naturally, that’s the goal. Williamson does not approve of people buying guns at all, so she hopes to use the flaws in the system to prevent you from exercising your rights.

To Williamson, every right is a “loophole” that must be closed, and every attack on your liberties is “common sense.”  It’s the perfect leftist scam, build a system that doesn’t work, force people to be subjected to it and then punish them when the system fails.

Williamson has claimed that “only” 1800 people are going to have their rights taken away but even then admits that (according to her)only about 500 would actually be prohibited persons.  But the Oregonian has reported that last year over 8000 people had their 2nd Amendment rights put on hold and of those 95% should not have. Even those numbers seem low.

So we have to stop this.  As you know, HB 4147 is currently scheduled for a hearing this Thursday at 3pm in the House Judiciary Committee. UPDATE. THIS MEETING HAS BEEN MOVED TO ROOM 50 IN THE BASEMENT OF  THE CAPITOL

The Chairman of the committee is Jeff Barker who has been pro-gun in the past so it is troubling that he is hearing this dangerous and disingenuous bill.  Please contact him and the other members of the committee and demand that they not use a broken system to take away your gun rights.

If you can come to the hearing to testify, please do. If you cannot, you can send testimony in PDF format to committee assistant Catherine Heaton catherine.heaton@state.or.us

Chairman Jeff Barker can be reached at 503-986-1428 or by email at Rep.JeffBarker@state.or.us

Contact info for all the House Judiciary Committee members is available here.

The message is simple,

Dear Representative,

The Oregon background check system is faulty. Every year thousands of people’s rights are infringed as a result of the inability of the OSP ID unit to accurately complete the mandated “check.” 

It makes no sense to further punish those people by removing the one small safeguard the law allows for people who are the victims of a broken system.

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Location Change For Soviet Style, Anti-Gun Bill Hearing

02.01.16

The Senate Judiciary Committee has changed the location of the hearing on the Prozanski’s secret accusation bill.

SB 1551 is currently scheduled to be heard on Wednesday Feb 3 at 8am, however the location for that hearing has changed.

The new location will be in HR 50 which is in the basement of the Capitol.

Hearings are moved to that room when they expect a larger than usual turn out, which means it’s likely that the Democrats will be busing in anti-gunners to push this dangerous and unconstitutional bill.

If you can come and testify please do. If you cannot, written testimony can submitted in PDF format to committee assistant Kristi Arrington. kristi.arrington@state.or.us

SB 1551 allows certain persons, including family members, school personnel and medical professionals to make an accusation that you are having a “mental health crisis” so your right to acquire a firearm is taken away.  Accusers are not required to have any mental health credentials and some can make a report without ever having met you.  You are not allowed to know your rights have been taken, by whom, or for how long.

SB 1551 does away with due process and cripples your gun rights based on secret accusations by unqualified reporters whose only agenda may be to prevent you from exercising your 2nd Amendment rights.  Please make your voice heard.

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They’re Racing Through More Gun Grabs

1.28.16

As we  have told you, the Democrats are racing through the anti-gun bills as quickly as they can.

The two worst gun grabbing bills have already been scheduled for hearings in the first days of the session. These are some of the most dangerous bills ever introduced.

SB 1551, Prozanski’s Soviet style, secret accusation bill is scheduled for a hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee on Feb 3 at 8am in Hearing Room 343 in the Capitol.

Under this bill a person with no mental health credentials, who may have never even met you, can take away your  right to acquire a firearm with an anonymous call to the State Police. You are not informed your rights are gone, you are not allowed to know who made the accusation and you are not allowed to know how long your rights are suspended.

You have no true, practical way to have your rights restored and your accuser can renew their accusations against you as often as they want.

This committee is controlled by Floyd Prozanski, the person responsible for the bill. Contact info for members of the committee can be found here.

On the House side, HB 4147 will be heard in the House Judiciary Committee on Feb 4 at  3pm in Hearing Room 343 at the Capitol.

This bill prohibits transfer of a firearm without the approval of the Oregon State Police, removing the only safeguard against errors made by the OSP during background checks.

Currently a dealer may transfer a firearm to a buyer after three days if the State Police issue a delay. This bill will prohibit that and allow the OSP to delay you literally forever.

The background check system is a total failure. We recently learned of a buyer who was approved for a gun transfer in January while still being delayed for a gun he tried to buy last November. Qualified people are routinely delayed or denied with no cause as a result of the OSP’s faulty system.  This bill will eliminate the one small safeguard they have.

We cannot stress enough how dangerous these bills are. After the passage of SB 941 the Democrats are now trying to screw down the vise on gun owners and only you can stop them.

The fact that HB 4147 is being heard in the House Judiciary Committee is especially alarming since the chair of that committee has always been pro-gun and chairs usually do not schedule bills they don’t plan to vote for.

Contact info for the House Judiciary Committee can be found here. Please call or email the members of both these committees as many times as you can.

Tell the Senate Judiciary Committee “NO on SB 1551” and the House Judiciary Committee “NO on HB 4147” or use our automailer to send a pre-written message to any or all legislators.

Act now, they are ramrodding these liberty smashing bills through to limit public input. Please make your voice heard today.

For updates and changes on committee schedules use this link.

 

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Stop The Vendetta Against Gun Owners.

The February “short session,” which was sold to Oregonians as a way to deal with nothing but budget issues, is being used to ram through more of Michael Bloomberg’s wish list.

Every effort will be made by the anti-gun majority to rush through more dangerous restrictions on gun rights with as little public input as possible.  Please take a moment to let the legislature know that you oppose all efforts to attack your rights.

Use the form below to send the following message to legislators:

Dear Legislator,

It’s clear that the majority in Salem is determined to continue their vendetta against Oregon gun owners.  I certainly hope you will not be assisting them.

Senate Bill 1551 has no purpose except as a tool of harassment and vindictiveness.  It offers no intervention or services for people who are in a genuine mental health crisis and does nothing to stop truly dangerous people from hurting themselves or others.

It does not take dangerous people off the street or deny them access to any of countless ways to kill or injure. It is purely a cynical attack on the rights of Oregonians through secret tribunals with no due process.

HB 4147 strips Oregonians of the only safeguard they have against the faulty OSP database failures.  Under this bill the State Police will be allowed to deny a lawful transfer literally forever.

Michael Bloomberg’s millions have done significant damage to Oregon.  Most counties opposed the last bill he paid to have passed here. (SB 941) I strongly urge you to avoid tearing Oregon apart with more vendetta driven legislation.

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The Noose Is Tightening.

01.23.16

Michael Bloomberg’s noose is tightening around the necks of Oregon’s gun owners.

noose1

We have received the draft copy of another bill to take us one more step towards the complete ban on the private ownership of firearms. (This now has bill number HB 4147 and was introduced by Jennifer Williamson.)

Now that most private transfers of firearms are illegal, anyone attempting to buy a gun is totally at the mercy of the Oregon State Police ID unit. Without their permission, you may not exercise your “right” to acquire a firearm, even as a gift from a friend.

Virtually not a day goes by that we don’t hear from someone who has been delayed or denied without cause by the bureaucrats in the ID unit.   Until now, gun buyers at least had the safeguard of being legally allowed to take possession of the firearm after three days if they had not been officially “denied.”  Under this proposed legislation, even that safeguard will be stripped away.

Under LC 263 if the OSP choses to delay your purchase, you are simply out of luck. They may delay it forever. 

The OSP ID Unit has made it their policy to ignore or stonewall any effort to correct faulty information that leads to delays and denials. We hear from people regularly who cannot get their calls returned and thus have their rights eliminated until the ID unit gets around to investigating the delay or denial.

The ATF has suspended processing appeals by people who have been denied without cause.

If the proposed legislation becomes law there may very well be simply no way to legally acquire a firearm. And that’s the point.

As with the bill proposed by Floyd Prozanski to allow secret, false accusations to strip away your rights, this bill allows the state to simply bypass the Second Amendment.  And let’s not forget that there are times when the background check unit is simply shut down with “technical issues.”

The surge in attempted gun purchases, along with the mandate that “person to person” transfers require an OSP background check, has increased the number of transactions the OSP is processing and, along with the increase in transfer requests comes an increase in false denials.

Each of these denials requires that a State Trooper be dispatched to the gun store or show where the transfer is being attempted.  This is greatly straining already stressed police resources while still resulting in virtually no arrests of real criminals.

The legislature convenes  on February 1. We are quite sure there will be other bills attacking your rights. The Democrats in control are totally beholden to Bloomberg’s money and he intends to get his money’s worth.

Be prepared for a very difficult and dangerous short session. 

Every effort will be made to rush these bills through with as little public input as possible.  We will need everyone showing up for hearings on short notice. Rest assured, as he has done in the past, Floyd Prozanski will inform the anti-gunners well in advance of  hearing dates before the public is allowed to know.  Your participation has never been more important.

If you don’t know who your local legislators are, you can find them at this link.  Make sure they are hearing from you.

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Prozanksi’s Secret Accuser Bill Formally Introduced

01.05.16

Today the Senate Judiciary Committee formally introduced Floyd Prozanski’s LC 250 which we told you about earlier this week. The bill was introduced as a “Committee Bill” which means Prozanski won’t have his name on it.

As you know, this bill will allow totally unqualified people to make anonymous accusations against others and claim those people are experiencing “mental health emergencies.” Those people lose their rights to buy a firearm.

These accusations will not be investigated, the accused will not know the accusation has been made unless they try to buy a gun nor will they be allowed to know who their accuser is or how long their rights will be suspended.

If they choose to challenge the accusations, they assume the full burden of proving they are not mentally ill and all of the expense.

The Committee approved the bill on a 1 to 3 vote. All Democrats voted yes, Senator Thatcher voted no and Senator Jeff Kruse is recovering from surgery and was absent.

The Democrats are:

Floyd Prozanski Sen.FloydProzanski@state.or.us

Sara Gelser  Sen.SaraGelser@state.or.us 

Diane Rosenbaum Sen.DianeRosenbaum@state.or.us

The Republican who voted to protect your rights is:

Senator Kim Thatcher Sen.KimThatcher@state.or.us  

Today’s vote was not a vote to pass the bill out of committee. It was to formally introduce the draft as a bill.  The next step will be actual hearings on the bill during the coming session in February.

It is interesting to note that another draft is being considered. This is LC 217 which establishes a tip hotline to report threats to students such as “cyber bullying.”  That proposed legislation would require that any tip be investigated to determine if it is authentic. LC 250 provides no such protection for people who will lose their gun rights.

We will continue to monitor this legislation as it moves through the system. Be prepared to take action and contact your legislators who can be found here.

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UPDATE ON THE MOST DANGEROUS BILL

01.14.16

spying

The Soviet style, false accusation bill we told you about Tuesday has been updated.  Clearly this draft is being “worked” and almost surely will be introduced in February. A copy of the latest version can be seen here.

We have been reliably informed this is actually Floyd Prozanski’s bill, although Ginny Burdick had previously announced her intention to introduce legislation of this type.

As we told you Tuesday, this bill would allow a laundry list of unqualified people to make a secret report and accuse you of “experiencing a mental health emergency” at which point you lose your right to purchase a firearm.  You would not be told this report was filed against you, you would not know who filed it or when it expires.

A few changes were made from the version we shared with you Tuesday.

First, they have changed the definition of one class of “reporters” from “family members” to “immediate family members.” The bill also now has vague language about a misdemeanor penalty for “knowingly” making a false report . The worst a person faces for stealing your rights and your good name is a misdemeanor.

They have also added a standard duration for the hold that would be placed on you. Under this second draft, your rights would be stripped from you with no due process for 30 days. Nothing in this draft would prevent your accuser from simply requesting another hold after 30 days.

Included in the list of people who can make a secret accusation against you are school personnel who have “had direct contact with you.” It does not say “recent” direct contact. They could have had “direct contact ” with you ten years ago.

It also allows any any doctor, “health care provider” or “licensed mental health professional” to make a secret accusation against you. As with family members, those “reporters” are not required to have direct contact with you.  So, for example, a person like Senator Elizabeth Hayward, who is a doctor but also openly admits to having severe mental health issues, could initiate a secret report against anyone she wanted even if she did not know him.

Imagine coming to the Capitol to testify against an anti-gun bill like this. Hayward, who has been a vocal, anti-gun extremist, could pick up the phone or simply go online, report that you are experiencing a “mental health emergency” and, without your knowledge or  right to face your accuser, your rights evaporate.

If you find out that this has happened to you because you attempt to buy a gun and are denied, it’s up to you to prove you are not a danger to yourself or others. You would either have to find a “health care provider”  who would provide “documentation” that you are not a danger, or you would have to go to court, at your expense, and “demonstrate by clear and convincing evidence” that you are not a danger to yourself or others. Good luck with that.

This new version comes the same day we have received the latest statistics from the Oregon State Police on background check denials. (Keep in mind, the OSP does not make public information on their, far more common, delays.)  Once again their own statistics prove what a farce this system is. In December of 2015 OSP denied 226 attempted transfers.

Of those OSP claims that 174 were denied because the buyer was a felon.

11 were denied for “mental health” reasons.

24 people were denied because the OSP claims the gun in question was stolen and 17 people were actually wanted by the police at the time of the attempted purchase.

The number of arrests made? A grand total of …zero.

So according to the OSP, 191 people who were felons or wanted by the police were trying to buy guns, and exactly none were arrested.

Clearly adding this new category of “prohibited” persons will only increase the complexity and failure rate of this monstrous system.

If you don’t know who your local reps are, now is the time to find out. You can find their contact info here.

Call or email them and tell them you expect them to do everything in their power to stop this outrageous attack on your privacy and liberty from even getting a hearing.