Author: OFF

08.31.18

 

We are pleased to inform you that today the first set of signatures was turned in for our ballot measure to protect common firearms.

1000 valid signatures were needed to get a “ballot title” from the Attorney General. Approximately 2000 signatures were turned in.

 

 

 

This measure is a constitutional amendment that would prevent the regulation of common firearms by the state or by ballot measure. It would prevent restrictions on firearms because of their action type, stock configuration, or magazine capacity among other safeguards.

The AG now has ten days to write a ballot title which will appear in the voters’ guide in the 2020 election. The measure was very, very carefully crafted to get the very best ballot title possible, but given our AG’s open hostility toward gun owners, we are still expecting a fight.

Only after all disputes over the ballot title are settled will we be able to start collecting the signatures we need for the next phase. The number of signatures required will be a percentage of the number of votes cast for governor in 2018.

With new  and well funded groups forming to attack your rights, this ballot measure is critical to preventing the gun grabbers from banning virtually all firearms.

“Wessinger and his backers talk of State of Safety as a missing voice in Oregon’s often fractious debate over firearms.”

While the leaders of this new anti-gun group have not said where they will get their money, they have close ties to New York billionaire Mike Bloomberg whose tentacles are all over Oregon politics.

Because of how broad the protections in this measure are, you can rest assured that we will be facing the full force of opposition from rights hating billionaires on both coasts. This is going to be a long, ugly and expensive battle with well funded extremists pulling out all the stops to  defeat us.

There is a long road ahead, but we have taken the first steps. Please consider the most generous support you can afford to put an end to the kind of dangerous attacks we saw in Measures 43 and 44.

You can support us using this link or through PAYPAL with the “Donate” button on this page.

Thank you for your support and activism and thanks to all who helped us get this far by gathering and turning in the signatures we needed for this first step.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

07.24.18

A very carefully crafted ballot measure to protect firearms and firearms’ owners has been filed for 2020.

Called “The Common Firearms Act” it is the product of a careful reading of previous firearms court decisions.  You can read the measure here.

The language of the measure was created to diffuse as many of the expected attacks as possible, help get the best ballot title and increase chances of passage.

The measure is a Constitutional Amendment designed to help thwart the kinds of hateful attacks we saw with the now defeated Measures 43 and 44.

Please stay tuned for updates on what you can do to insure it gets on the ballot and wins.

 

 

06.27.18

IP 43, the gun confiscation ballot measure is dead. Today the courts released their response to our challenge to the ballot title and agreed that the language in the title was misleading. 

The hateful bigots who wrote this outrageous attack on the rights and freedom of Oregonians had hoped to exploit fear and ignorance to ban virtually all firearms by labeling everything an “assault weapon.”  Under their deceitful definition, even some lever action rifles would be “assault weapons.”

The court took note of this rhetorical sleight of hand and also pointed out that the term “large capacity magazine” (also banned under this measure) had no real meaning, given that the standard capacity magazines for many firearms could be anywhere from 14  to 30 rounds. So to say anything over 10 rounds is “large capacity” is misleading at best.

It is a sad testimony that the people who were hoping to imprison their fellow Oregonians for exercising a God given right are charading as “people of faith.” The fact that one of them is a “rabbi” is even more astonishing knowing what happened to people of his religion after the Nazi’s implemented the very schemes he hoped to make law.

The 43 promoters made it clear that they were counting on duping the young and ignorant and expoliting the wave of anti-gun hysteria created by a complicit media to convince Oregonians to voluntarily give up their rights.

As with the promoters of IP 44, they failed. While they most certainly will be back, (hate never rests) this was a profound victory.

We want to thank everyone who was part of this battle and supported our work to stop these attacks. You have been very generous and we are deeply grateful. We also want to say a special thanks to our legal team who worked tirelessly to expose the truth behind these measures.

But given the billionaires who fund the gun grabbers we know there will be no shortage of attacks in the future.

You can help to keep us strong by supporting our efforts here.

 

06.18.18

In a very unusual move, the Oregon Supreme Court has certified the highly flawed ballot title for IP 44, the “lock up your self defense” measure, without even waiting for the Attorney General to defend her title language.

Once again the Court has demonstrated it is in the tank for the anti-gunners. This is what years of Democrat rule brings us. A total perversion of the established rule to benefit the people who contribute the most campaign cash.

Of course, our attorneys will be filing a motion to reconsider this clearly biased decision.

We know the supporters of both anti-gun ballot measures are planning an all out push in the next weeks to get the signatures they need to eliminate your liberties and make you a criminal for exercising God-given, Constitutional rights. Rest assured that with your help we will be standing in their way no matter what the establishment courts and legislators do.

We are very grateful for your generous support.

06.15.18

Yesterday, OFF filed a challenge to IP 44, the measure that would force you to lock up any firearm you are not actually carrying, require that you install a trigger lock before handing a firearm to another person, hold you liable for guns that were stolen from you and more.

As you know from a  previous alert, the Oregon Supreme Court had altered the time table for the other anti-gun measure, IP 43, to assist the gun grabber’s efforts to gather signatures.  Our attorneys filed an objection to this clear and unprecedented bias and the court relented…slightly.

You can view our challenge to IP 44 here.

These ballot measures serve no purpose but to harass and endanger gun owners. The dangers they present are incalculable.

Rest assured OFF will continue to do all we can to stand in their way. We are grateful for your continued support.

 

06.12.18

As you may know, the Oregon Supreme Court has fast tracked the challenges we filed against IP 43, the “firearms confiscation measure”, to benefit the supporters of gun theft.

We believe the court has chosen to ignore Oregon statutes and has grossly bent the rules to accommodate the gun grabbers who filed a very late ballot measure. Now we have the Oregon Supreme Court working  for the supporters of gun confiscation to do all they can to make sure this outrageous measure gets on the ballot.

OFF’s lawyers have drafted a “motion to reconsider” the court’s fast tracking and joined with other pro-rights organizations to file it with the court.

The Oregon Supreme Court is playing fast and loose with the law. Rest assured OFF will be standing in the way every single step to protect your rights against this tyranny.

If you believe you should be part of this fight you can help us with a a donation here.

06.01.18

Oregon’s Attorney General has released a “certified ballot title” for IP 44, the mandatory lock up ballot measure.

While this measure has received less attention than IP43, it is still an extraordinarily broad and dangerous measure. Gun owners would be strictly liable for injuries caused by someone who stole their firearm for five years after the theft if the gun was not locked with a cheap, easily defeated cable or trigger lock. The petitioners seem to actually believe that a thief  who could break into a home could not remove a cable lock for five years!

We have all heard the horror stories of minors dying at the hands of home invaders because mandatory lock up laws prevented them from having access to firearms they knew how to use.

We have all heard of attacks thwarted by young people with a parent’s firearm. 

We all know that the types of locks mandated by this measure are dangerous and unreliable.

Clearly, if passed this measure will cost lives.

The “certified” ballot title is released in response to comments filed by voters on the “draft”  ballot title.

As you can see, the AG made no changes to the “caption” and only minor changes to the “Results of Yes or No Votes” and the summary.

Appeals to this language must be filed by June 14th.

05.23.18

The Attorney General has submitted a “modified” ballot title for IP 43, the gun confiscation ballot measure drafted by liberal Portland “clergy”

As you know, this ballot measure would outlaw a vast collection of firearms and ammunition magazines. Some of the banned guns would not even be the dreaded “semi-automatics” that have become the things of legend and myth.

Under IP 43 you would be facing prison time for having a firearm or magazine that you had not “registered “ with the state police. You would have very limited ability to use those items and you can never purchase another one. If you don’t register them and submit to Oregon State Police rules on how you must store them you will be required to turn them into the police, sell them out of state, or destroy them.

The “modified” ballot title can be seen here. This includes the 15 word caption the Attorney General wants to appear in the voter’s guide and the “summary” and effects  of both a “yes” and “no” vote on the measure.

As you can see, the Attorney General still insists on using the meaningless, but still inflammatory term “assault weapon”  even though she admits that “an accurate definition of that term is impossible to convey in the allotted fifteen words, “

There is no question this is intended to create confusion and fear amongst voters who have no knowledge of firearms.  It will no doubt be successful.

Clearly the openly anti Second Amendment Attorney General is hoping to use misleading and incendiary language to encourage people to vote to steal your rights and property.

Rest assured Oregon Firearms will be challenging this dangerous and misleading language in court.

05.20.18

A “special” session of the Oregon Legislature has been called by Governor Kate Brown against the wishes of most legislators. This session is being presented as an opportunity to “fix” a tax increase bill passed by Democrats and signed into law by Brown.

By all accounts, the proposed “fix” will effect a tiny fraction of Oregon businesses leaving many others with large increases in their tax liabilities.  Legislators on both sides of the aisle have agreed there is no need for an “emergency” session but it is an election year and Brown sees this as an opportunity to convince voters that she is doing something for small business even while the bill she signed was a serious blow against small business.  So what does all this have to do with your gun rights?

As of the time of this writing, there has only been one bill introduced. The above mentioned tax bill. However, there is NOTHING to prevent an endless stream of unrelated bills from being introduced and passed in this crammed session.

No one knows what to expect, or how long this session will be. Theoretically it could just be one day, but it could just as easily be 5 days.

With elections coming and extreme anti-gun ballot measures threatening to bring out the votes of conservatives, the Dems may well see this session as their best chance to capitalize on the recent mass murders of school children and ram through anti-gun bills. Kate Brown’s extraordinary incompetence make her vulnerable and the Dems, even if they hold majorities in both houses, don’t know if they can count on Knute Buehler to sign more anti-gun bills should he become governor. That’s what makes this session so dangerous.

Not only is there a nationwide (irrational) call for extreme anti-gun laws, giving the Democrats the momentum and incentive to pass almost anything, but these short sessions make it almost impossible for the public, (and you) to know what is happening and react to it.

We cannot predict what is going to happen, but we can tell you the danger level is extremely high. Gone are the days when the gun grabbers hid their true intentions under the guise of  “enacting reasonable gun safety legislation.” Now dictated by the sad , but predictable, calls for “something” by frightened but uninformed school children, the left is on an all out jihad to ban everything everywhere.

If they have their way you will be allowed to own nothing, although you may be allowed to store some firearms for the government at your expense if they are locked up, and useless and registered with the state subject to police inspection.

Make no mistake. The recent murders have exposed the real agenda of the left and they will stop at nothing.  And while we can’t say for certain what will happen in the days ahead, we can tell you what won’t change. 

Anti-gun celebrities will continue to attack gun owners while producing ultra violent movies that glorify murder. Video game makers will keep making games that reward kids for the most “kills”. Liberal teachers will keep blaming the “gun lobby” for the crimes of the mentally ill.

Kids in schools in Oregon will still be subject to abuse by school personnel (who will be protected for years by their unions) while nothing is done to ensure their safety against deranged killers. And the politicians in Salem will continue to have wall to wall police protection with a cop in every hearing room and hallway.

While every effort will be made to disarm you and make you a criminal for exercising a human right, the politicians will continue to enjoy protection provided by men with guns.

Please stay tuned in. We are going to need every one of you to be ready to respond to any attacks in the coming days.  We will be doing all we can to keep you informed but please consider using the OLIS system of the legislative website to track bills and their progress.  You can access that here.

05.16.18.

The results of Oregon’s 2018 Primary Elections are in.

You can view them here.

If you are unsure what district you are in, please use this link to find out.

Thank you to everyone who took the time to vote and be a part of the process. And thank you to all who commented on the titles for Ballot Measures 43 and 44. 

The Secretary of State has posted the comments to IP 44, the mandatory lock up measure and those comments can be seen here.