There are three gun related bills that have had action you should be aware of.
Yesterday, the Senate passed a bill we requested (SB 603) to define the term “readily accessible” for the purposes of having a handgun in your car. As you know, if a person does not have a concealed handgun license, there are restrictions on how they may transport a handgun in a vehicle. In most (but not all) places, a loaded handgun can be carried in a vehicle if it is either not concealed, or “not readily accessible.”
The problem is, Oregon does not define what that term means.
We requested and wrote a bill to answer that question. The bill was amended heavily from our original language. Some of the changes were quite good and incorporated language that we had requested in other bills. Those changes would address conflicts in existing law.
Unfortunately, the re-written definition for “readily accessible” created new ambiguities.
We are working to correct those problems when the bill gets to the House. We believe it will go to the House Judiciary Committee, but because of the late date, it is possible that the bill will go to another committee. Wherever it goes, we will let you know and tell you who you need to contact to request that the language be corrected to eliminate the uncertainties created by the amendments. The bill passed the Senate with 29 “aye” votes and one Senator excused.
HB 2853 was heard in the House Rules Committee late today. This bill was amended once again and the amendments were only available at the very last minute at the hearing. They are not yet available on line. The purpose of the bill as amended, is to make Oregon comply with the Federal bill HR 2640, the gun control bill promoted by the Brady Campaign and the NRA after the Virginia Tech killings.
The bill would create a system whereby the Oregon State Police would share mental health records of Oregonians with the FBI and the NICS system.
OFF has opposed this legislation from the beginning and we continue to. We believe that the background check system is already not only a prior restraint on your rights, but so riddled with errors that unwarranted delays and denials are commonplace. We oppose dumping a whole new batch of records into a failed system. Beyond that, the bill places enormous power in Oregon’s “Psychiatric Security Review Board” to decide if you are “mentally defective” ( to use the Fed’s term) and they testified today that they currently would not likely have the resources or manpower to handle the new responsibility. Beyond that, we are not convinced they are necessarily qualified. Keep in mind, the shooter at Virginia Tech had long exhibited signs of mental illness and aberrant behavior, all of which was ignored by the “mental health professionals” who will be given so much power under this bill.
The committee members expressed reservations with the bill as amended, so your communications have been having an affect. Please don’t stop now. This bill is far from dead, but your efforts have created doubt about the wisdom of expanding the failed Brady Check system.The bill DID NOT move out of committee today. Please contact the Rules Committee and express your opposition to HB 2853.
For more info please see our previous alert.
Finally, HB 2727, which in its original form protected the privacy of concealed handgun licensees, has gone to the Senate Judiciary Committee. The amended bill provides virtually NO protections for license holders. So we are hoping to have those protections put back in while the bill is in the Senate Committee. For more information see this alert.