As you know, the next legislative session will be bringing a flood of anti-gun bills. Given the makeup of the legislature, some very bad legislation could well become law. So we believe that the battles for our rights may very well come down to whether our county commissioners and sheriffs are willing to stand up to Portland.
The opening salvos in that battle are now being fired.
Oregon Firearms has contacted every sheriff in the state asking for their commitment to protecting Second Amendment Rights, irrespective of what anti-gun bills are passed in the legislature. We are also reaching out to the county commissioners.
On December 2nd, Clackamas County Commissioner Tootie Smith addressed the commission about the prospect of the county taking a pro-active, pro-gun stand. The audio of that meeting can be heard here. The discussion about gun rights starts at 35.30.
In the audio, County Commissioner Martha Schrader, (ex-wife of anti-gun congressman Kurt Schrader) takes a jab at OFF and muses about our “agenda”. Apparently Martha is still upset that OFF supported her opponent, pro-gun Alan Olsen, when they were in a race for State Senate.
Commissioner Paul Savas says he tried to contact us numerous times in the past and got no return calls. What he fails to mention is that his calls were all fund raising calls. He also neglects to mention his lack of response when we pointed out to him that he had helped pass an ordinance regulating gun dealers that he had no authority to implement.
There can be no doubt that only Commissioner Tootie Smith was willing to take a principled stand while the rest of the commission looks for any excuse to either do nothing or actively oppose gun rights.
Please don’t underestimate the power of your county commissioners and your sheriffs. If they are willing to take a stand for your rights, a powerful message will go to the legislature.
We’ll keep you up to date on when and if your sheriff takes a stand. (As usual, Sheriff Glenn Palmer of Grant County has already taken a pro-gun pledge!) But until they do, please don’t hesitate to contact them and your commissioners and let them know you expect them to be looking out for your rights no matter what Portland tries to pass. You can find them here at the bottom of the page.
As an example of just how bad the coming “background check/ universal registration” schemes can be, take a look at this notice from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. It explains how under Washington’s newly passed gun grab (I594), students at a hunter safety class won’t be allowed to pass rifles to each other!
It does state that instructors will be allowed to hand rifles to a student, but even that may not be accurate. See here for an explanation of why hunter safety instructors may not be allowed to hand guns to students.
Under I594, you won’t even be allowed to buy or hand a nail gun or flare gun to another person without police permission and an expensive background check!
Do not doubt for a moment that, based on his success in Washington, Michael Bloomberg will be spending millions to pass a similar ballot measure here and will be counting on uninformed voters and a lazy, complicit media to get it done.
All indications are that the vast majority of voters in Washington, and many, many gun owners had no idea what they were voting for in Washington. This is the great danger of ballot measures. Too many voters make a decision based only on the lies they are told on TV. We simply cannot allow that to happen in Oregon. Contact your sheriff and county commissioners and tell them to say no to any anti-gun bill or ballot measure.