Category: OFF Alerts

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Gun Control Bills Coming Soon

04.07.17 

The Oregon Legislature has reached the point in their session where deadlines are looming.

While they have not found time to address the state’s impending financial crisis, there has been time to debate whether the osprey should be the state bird and to recognize April 6th as National Tartan Day in Oregon  (Declares emergency, effective on passage.) And soon they will be working on new gun control restrictions.

Yes, it has been quiet up until now, but rest assured the attacks on your gun rights are coming. And soon. 

We expect to see anti-gun bills moving next week in the Senate Judiciary Committee. While there has been nothing officially scheduled at this point, look for hearings, probably late in the week.

The bills that will be moving have not been publicly announced, but the senate bills most likely to be heard are:

SB 797 which would allow the Oregon State Police to delay a firearms transfer forever. This is the bill Governor Brown was pushing soon after her election. Right now if the State Police delay you, you may lawfully take possession of a firearm after three business days have transpired. This bill would eliminate that safeguard.

Keep in mind, the OSP ID unit has an abysmal track record of fairly conducting background checks. If you are delayed, their default position is “no” and typically only a call from a pro-gun legislator will make the process tolerable.  (We recently heard from a woman who was denied on a gun purchase incorrectly. She told us that she had a “very good” experience dealing with the ID unit who only took 8 months to correct her false denial. She got off easy.)

This bill could essentially end gun transfers for anyone the OSP chooses to target with a faulty background check.

One of the main supporters of this legislation (House Rep Jennifer Williamson) has stated that background check delays are false 95% of the time.

Senate Bill 868 allows police or family members to request that a court force you to relinquish all firearms based on the accusers perception that you are dangerous to yourself or others. It does not require that you have committed a crime, it does not require that you have been convicted of a crime, and one of the indicators that you are “dangerous” is that you have purchased  or attempted to purchase a firearm or ammunition in the last 180 days.  Of course, this bill contains nothing that would allow for a person who really was a danger to himself to access any kind of help.

Senate Bill 1026 “Creates the crime of endangering a minor by allowing access to a firearm.” This bill is one of the most poorly crafted pieces of legislation this session, and that’s saying a lot. Of course it does nothing to address things that are far more likely to be dangerous, like prescription drugs, household chemicals and your car keys.

There are also quite a few very good gun bills that would address real problems in the law, like the fact that it is illegal for a person who does not have a concealed handgun license to leave a gun store with a new handgun in the manufacturer’s original box or the fact that persons who live in motor homes cannot legally buy guns.  However it is a near certainty that none of these bills will be allowed hearings by the chairman of the committee, Floyd Prozanski, unless he believes they could be a vehicle for amendments that would turn them into anti-gun bills.

Information on the Senate Judiciary Committee (including bill scheduling information)can be found here.

We will follow up with confirmations on hearings as soon as they become official, but for now please be prepared. It’s going to happen soon.

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Call To Action

03.23.17

On March 22nd, we asked you to contact House Rep Brad Witt to express your concerns with his House Joint Resolution 13.

As many of you who contacted him know, Rep Witt has heard your concerns and agrees that in its current form, HJR 13 is overly broad and could well create situations Witt never intended. He has agreed to rework the resolution to address those issues.

But there is lots more to be done.

As you know the passage of SB 941 in  2015 has caused all of the problems we predicted it would. 941 outlawed most private transfers of firearms and was nothing more than a payoff to Mike Bloomberg and an attack on law abiding gun owners.

We repeatedly warned legislators that this bill was dangerous and opposed by most counties and most Sheriffs.  The anti-gun liberals in the legislature and big city cops who supported this law showed no interest in actually enforcing it when one of their own anti-gun activists blatantly violated it. But the damage it has done to Oregonians is incalculable.

The liberals who pushed 941 through to pay Bloomberg back for the money he poured into Oregon claimed the bill was about “safety” and “keeping guns out of the wrong hands.” They told us it was for the good of “domestic violence victims.” And of course, it was all lies.

In fact, 941 has made Oregon a far less safe place. 

As we have reported many times, when people who are identified as “prohibited persons” attempt to buy guns, they are virtually never arrested, even if they are actively wanted at the time!

Under 941 it is now a crime to safeguard a firearm for a neighbor who is going out of town or a friend who needs to remove a gun from his home for personal reasons. This from the same people who are demanding “safe storage” of firearms.

But it’s even worse than that.  As result of the refusal of the anti-gun left to even consider the consequences of SB 941, Oregon has put its most vulnerable directly in the cross hairs of violence.

Oregon has a program for people who have active and credible threats against their lives. It’s called the “Address Confidentiality Program” and participants essentially live in hiding.  Thanks to the leftist supporters of SB 941, all of whom generate plenty of theater about protecting the victims of domestic violence, anyone covered under the program is forbidden from buying a gun. You heard that right. The law forbids people who live in daily fear from purchasing a firearm to defend themselves and their children.

 This is so obviously wrong it is hard to believe that even the most ardent haters of gun rights could justify it. But of course, they do.

We want to fix this.

Make no mistake, all of SB 941 is flat out bad law and we want to see the whole bill repealed. But as we move towards that goal we want to reverse as many of the worst elements of the bill as we can.

There are other effects of 941.  For example, people who live in recreational vehicles can no longer legally buy firearms if they have a “continuous traveler” driver’s license and now even antique firearms require a background check for a “private” transfer, something not required for a purchase from a dealer!

Quite a few good bills have been introduced by our friends in the legislature. You can see all current 2017 gun bills here, but three bills that would address these crucial issues are languishing in the Senate Judiciary Committee chaired by Floyd Prozanski, one of the legislature’s most militant anti-gunners.

Those bills are: 

SB 667,  SB 854 and SB 855.

Please contact Floyd Prozanski and tell him it’s time to fix the mess they made with SB 941. Please consider cc’ing your note to Senate President Peter Courtney who has the power to instruct Prozanski to hear these important bills. We cannot continue to allow the extremists in the legislature to keep putting innocent people at risk.

Prozanski’s contact info can be found here.

His email is Sen.FloydProzanski@OregonLegislature.gov

Peter Courtney’s contact info can be found here.

Courtney’s email is  sen.petercourtney@oregonlegislature.gov

A sample message follows.

Dear Senator Prozanski,

The passage of SB 941 has created a whole series of problems  for law abiding gun owners, while doing nothing to stop crime and is not even enforced if the lawbreaker is an anti-gun liberal.  But what concerns me most is the danger it has created for people who have done nothing wrong.

As you know, 941 outlaws the purchase of firearms by people protected by Oregon’s Address Confidentiality Program. These people are not criminals, they are victims and should not be denied the ability to protect themselves by the legislature .  SB 941 also denies Second Amendment rights to people whose only crime is their decision to live in a recreational vehicle. This is pointless and dangerous.

Furthermore people who want to transfer antiques to private parties are now subject to a failing background check system which is not required for purchases from gun dealers.

There are bills in your committee that would address these and other issues.  Please schedule hearings and work sessions  for Senate Bills 667,854 and 855. It is unacceptable to put people who have done nothing wrong in danger to promote the agenda of a New York billionaire.

 

 

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Good Intentions, Bad Legislation. HJR 13

03.22.17

On March 28th, the Oregon House Judiciary Committee will hold a public hearing and work session on House Joint Resolution 13.

This measure, sponsored by House Rep Brad Witt, is in response to an Oregon Supreme Court decision that greatly restricted law enforcement officers from asking people if they possessed firearms.

Few would argue that the defendant in the case which was responsible for this court decision was a contributing member of society. In fact, he went on to commit other serious crimes.

Oregon Firearms Federation strongly supports officer safety, and while we don’t think it would be wise for any police officer to assume that they should relax because someone they stopped denied having a weapon, it is certainly an overreach to forbid police from asking.

This resolution would not change the law. It would refer the change to the voters of Oregon, to vote on whether they wanted to alter Oregon’s Constitution to specifically allow police to ask if you had a firearm.

The problem with the resolution is how broad it is. It does not say police will have the right to ask you if you have a firearm if you are stopped or detained. It says a police officer will be allowed “at any time” to ask if you are in possession of a firearm.

We believe this goes well beyond the intended purpose of protecting officer safety. A law enforcement officer should not be allowed to question you anywhere, anytime about whether or not you are exercising a Constitutional right.

Please contact Rep Brad Witt, the resolution’s sponsor, and ask that he consider an amendment to reduce the over broad scope of the proposed change to our constitution.

Representative Witt has a long history of supporting gun rights. Your input to him can make a difference in how this resolution is crafted.

Representative Witt’s contact info and a sample message follow.

Representative Brad Witt 

Email:

Rep.BradWitt@oregonlegislature.gov

____________________________________________________________

Dear Representative Witt,

Thank you for your long time support for Second Amendment rights.

I strongly support your efforts to help keep Oregon police safe with HJR 13. I am concerned however, that the language of the resolution may have some unintended consequences. I refer specifically to the language that authorizes “a police officer to ask a person at any time if the person is in possession of a firearm ..”

Clearly, I should not be faced with that kind of questioning while out at dinner with my family.

I strongly urge you to consider an amendment that would limit the police’s right to question me about my firearms possession to times and places where they are facing a real potential threat.

Thank you.

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Bad Idea Becomes A Bad Bill

02.28.17

Yesterday we told you about LC 1767 , a draft for a bill that would allow a “household member” or law enforcement agent to request that a person’s guns and rights be taken away if they convinced a court that the person was an “extreme risk.” 

Today we can report that the draft has been introduced as SB 868.

It’s no surprise that Ginny Burdick is one of the bill’s sponsors. The other sponsor however, is Senator Brian Boquist who has long been a supporter of gun rights.

While the Boquist’s sponsorship is no doubt well intentioned, we still believe the bill is both misguided and counter productive. Many of the factors a court could take into account for revoking a person’s Second Amendment rights would already disqualify them from having a firearm, but the court is also allowed to consider whether the accused acquired or attempted to acquire a firearm or ammunition in the last 180 days!

That could be many of us and is a pretty scary reason to take someone’s rights and property away.

Given the anti-gun bias prevalent in Oregon courts, especially in Multnomah County, this bill has the potential to be very dangerous.

Please contact Senate President Peter Courtney and tell him that SB 868 is a bad idea. Point out that while the bill claims to be, in part, an effort to prevent suicide, there is nothing in it that restricts the accused’s rights to have prescription drugs, knives or car keys. Instead of seeking real solutions, this bill is just another attempt to demonize gun owners.

Courtney’s contact info is:

Phone: 503-986-1600

Email  sen.petercourtney@oregonlegislature.gov

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The Resurrection of a Very Bad Idea

02.27.17

You may recall in 2016, Senator Floyd Prozanski introduced SB 1551.

This piece of legislation bordered on the surreal. It was something that would have been considered too extreme for the Cold War Kremlin.

Basically, it allowed people with zero qualifications to make anonymous accusations that resulted in lost gun rights for whoever they accused of experiencing a “mental health emergency.”

If this accusation was made against you, you not only lost your right to buy a firearm, but you were not even allowed to know this accusation was made against you or by whom. If you wanted to challenge it, it would be totally at your expense. This bill was flat out evil and typical of the kind of attack we have come to expect from Prozanski.

Thanks to your hard work and activism this bill died the death it so richly deserved.

We have just received a draft for a bill that attempts to recreate the goals of SB 1551. This is a draft only and has not yet been introduced as a bill. We will keep an eye out to see if it is introduced.

While the draft does include some safeguards against the malicious abuses we certainly would have seen under SB 1551, it is still a horribly drafted and pointless attack on gun owners.

Most of the things a court could take into account to take away your guns and your gun rights are already disqualifiers for firearm’s possession.

We do not know who is behind this at this time. But we do know that if this is introduced as a bill, there is a great likelihood that efforts will be made to amend it to use it as a weapon against all gun owners.

Please contact Senate President Peter Courtney and tell him that LC 1768 is a dangerous idea that could easily morph into a SB 1551 type attack on all gun owners. Remind Courtney that the reckless behavior of past legislatures has Oregon facing billions of dollars in debt, and any rational lawmaker should be concentrating on fixing that.

Courtney’s contact info is:

Phone: 503-986-1600

Email  sen.petercourtney@oregonlegislature.gov

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02.22.17 Legislative Update.

Currently we are monitoring over 40 firearms related bills and know that more are coming.

Quite a few of these bills are improvements over current law, some are housekeeping measures, some are well intentioned but dangerous, some are goofy  and some are simply awful.

All introduced bills can be seen here. We add new legislation to this page as soon as it is introduced.

As you probably know, Kate Brown held a press conference yesterday with Bloomberg stooges to promote her personal favorite anti-gun bill SB 797.

797, like HB 2237 eliminates the safeguard that allows, but does not mandate, the transfer of a firearm after 3 business days have elapsed, if the Oregon State Police do not complete a background check.

While few dealers are willing to complete these transfers (after years of being lied to and threatened by OSP) it is still an important protection and available to dealers who know their customers and know what an awful job the State Police do on background checks.

One of the main proponents of this elimination of rights is Portland uber-leftist Jennifer Williamson. Interestingly, Williamson herself has testified that 95% of delays are not justified. Now Williamson and Brown and the rest of the hard left in the Oregon Legislature want to expand a program with a 95% failure rate. (Williamson and Kate Brown have gotten big payoffs from Mike Bloomberg. It’s no secret who they are working for.)

Under SB 797, if the State Police do not complete a background check you could literally be denied a firearm’s purchase forever. All the State Police have to do is…nothing.

SB 797 also requires extensive new reporting and reports. Oddly what it does not require is that the State Police actually do anything when a prohibited person attempts a transfer. And that’s what they typically do now. Nothing.

In spite of laughable misreporting like this, when “prohibited” persons are identified by background checks, the rate of arrests is virtually zero.  Nothing in this bill would change that.  And in spite of the mandate that denials be investigated by State Police, we are now receiving reports of denied buyers not hearing from a trooper for months. Of course, a significant number of people who are denied, along with 95% of people who are delayed, are totally qualified to buy firearms.

Floyd Prozanski, the militantly anti-gun Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has stated he will be holding hearings on SB 797.  We also believe Prozanski will soon be introducing legislation to severely restrict access to concealed handgun licenses along with other far reaching anti-gun bills.

In addition to the expected attacks are many positive bills including the just introduced HB 2973 which repeals the dreadful SB 941 that outlawed lending a firearm to a friend or safeguarding a firearm for a neighbor.  SB 941 also outlawed the purchase of a firearm by a person protected by Oregon’s “Address Confidentiality Program” an outrage that is being addressed by several bills.

It’s a pathetic reflection on the leftists who run the Oregon Legislature that they feel the need to expend so much energy attacking your rights at a time when Oregon is racing off a fiscal cliff. But that’s the way they roll. Still it’s important to keep something in mind about this session.

Oregon is facing a fiscal crisis born out of the desire of legislators to spend money like a meth addict with a stolen credit card. The bill is coming due.  While the Republicans are in the minority, they are not in a “super-minority.”  The only way the Democrats can get the money they continue to burn is by jacking up your taxes. They cannot do that without some Republican support. This means that, while certainly not a guarantee of success, the Republicans have the leverage to tell the ruling party that no taxes will even be considered if they push more attacks on your rights.  We will count any vote in favor of new taxes a vote against gun rights no matter how a legislator votes on gun bills, unless they have killed every anti-gun bill in 2017.

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The Charade Continues


01.25.17

As we told you on January 10, Kate Brown has requested new legislation to further impede your right to lawfully acquire a firearm.

HB 2237 would eliminate the safeguard that allows a firearm’s transfer to take place after 3 business days have elapsed if the Oregon State Police do not complete a background check.

As with every other provision of law that allows people to exercise their Constitutionally protected rights, Brown and her Bloomberg funded flunkies are calling this safeguard “a loophole.”

 

That’s right, when the state imposes a regulation that says your rights can be suspended by the state for no reason, any law that provides protections against indefinite suspension of those rights must be “a loophole.”

Note, the OSP does not provide numbers on the far more common “delays” although in the past they have said they would. Under Oregon law, there is no limit on how long the OSP can “delay” a transfer. It can literally be years. That is why the rarely used safeguard allowing a transfer after 3 business days is so important. If the State Police don’t do their job, a perfectly qualified buyer can be delayed forever, and that is exactly what Brown is pushing for with her bill.

But let’s look at the reality behind the rhetoric. All of the countless restrictions on our rights have been sold as a way to make us safer by keeping guns out of the hands of dangerous people. But what happens when “dangerous” people attempt to buy guns and are stopped by this brilliant system?

We have just received the stats for 2016. As always, they highlight what a joke the system is. This information is directly from the State Police. These are their numbers and their charts and graphs.

In 2016 out of 302,725 attempted firearm’s purchases, the OSP denied 2591 of them. That averages out to 216 denials a month. Of those, 78% were denials to “prohibited persons.” To OSP that means “Individuals convicted of a felony, are on probation, have a restraining order, have been convicted of controlled substance crimes, certain misdemeanor convictions, and additional federal and state mandates.”  In other words, bad hombres.

So what happens when the crack staff at the Firearms Instant Check Unit identifies one of these desperados? Well… not much.

In all of 2016, of the 2030 felons and other “prohibited persons” who attempted to buy guns, a grand total of 14 were arrested. Yes, that’s less than 1%.

Of the 226 people OSP said were actually wanted  when they attempted a purchase only 12 were arrested.

Given that the number of unjustified delays is about 95%, it’s safe to say that the number of unjustified denials is also almost certainly quite high, but it’s still obvious that there is no serious effort to actually do anything about prohibited buyers. So what purpose does this charade serve? It serves to harass and inconvenience legitimate gun buyers.

HB 2237 has been assigned to the House Judiciary Committee chaired by Representative Jeff Barker.  Please consider taking a minute to contact him and share these statistics and tell him to oppose this pointless and politically motivated attack on your rights. Tell him HB 2237 will do nothing but harass the good guys.

Barker can be reached by email here  Rep.JeffBarker@oregonlegislature.gov

He can be reached by phone at 503-986-1428.

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KATE BROWN PROHIBITS SELF DEFENSE FOR STATE WORKERS

01.13.17

The Department of Administrative Services, at the direction of Governor Kate Brown, has adopted a policy prohibiting all state employees from having a licensed firearm for self defense on  “all property and facilities owned, leased, rented or otherwise occupied  by the Oregon state government including grounds, buildings, parking structures and lots, vehicles and other equipment and any site where an employee enters on behalf of the employee’s employment with Oregon state government except for an employee’s home (including employees who live in state housing)…”

This policy extends to “All employees, including limited duration and temporary employees, board and commission members, volunteers, and others working in an agency…”

The policy also forbids “knobkerries” and states that biological and chemical weapons are not considered “sporting equipment” under this rule.(We are unaware of any knobkerrie attacks by state workers.)

As stated, even civilian volunteers on boards are prohibited from having the means to protect themselves.  “Serving utensils” will still be permitted.

In a press release issued today House Rep. Duane Stark said:

“I am still researching details on this policy change but this sounds like a serious encroachment on 2nd amendment rights of tens of thousands of state employees and volunteers working in state agencies across Oregon.”

House Rep. Carl Wilson said :

“State employees have a right to defend themselves and it is sad to see state bureaucrats take that away. I am extremely concerned about this policy and will be talking with others in the legislature to see how we can fix this to protect the rights of law abiding citizens who work in state government.”

Senate Republican Leader Ted Ferrioli said:

“The governor’s administration has no business confiscating self-defense rights from public servants, volunteers and others, who have committed themselves to serving our state. Oregonians should be outraged that public servants are now endangered due to a seemingly political agenda at the cost of safety.”

As you might expect, Kate Brown will still be provided around the clock, armed protection by the Oregon State Police. Brown has expressed no concerns about guns in her workplace. She just does not trust any state employee who is not charged with protecting her.

This a very dangerous policy and a slap in the face to state workers, and DAS and Brown have not provided a single example of a state employee with a CHL abusing that right or threatening anyone. Brown’s campaigns have been largely funded by public employees unions. It will be interesting to see how they respond to this latest insult.

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Let The Games Begin

01.10.17

The Oregon Legislature, due to convene on Feb. 1, has started making available pending legislation. While there will no doubt be plenty more to come, we wanted to share with you some of the early proposals coming out of Salem.

Two bills in particular caught our eye.

We already told you about Kate Brown’s proposal to institute indefinite delays on gun purchases if the Oregon State Police don’t do their jobs. We shared a draft of that bill a few weeks ago. Now it’s a “bill,” HB 2237. This bill would eliminate the small and rarely used safeguard that allows a firearms transfer to take place after 3 business days have elapsed since the time a background check is initiated, if OSP does not issue a “permission slip” to exercise your rights.

In reality, few dealers are willing to complete a transfer without an approval, many believing they are liable if the check eventually ends up with a denial. The fact is, dealers are protected under Federal law if they complete transfers under these circumstances, but we have heard from more than one dealer who received veiled threats from the OSP and the Feds if they lawfully completed a transfer after 3 days.

While we have seen about 22 bills that effect gun owners, we wanted to tell you about two we found particularly odd: HB 2523 and HB 2526.

Both of these bills are sponsored by Senator Elizabeth Hayward, a Democrat, and House Rep Knute Buehler, a Republican. Both are physicians.

Interestingly, Hayward suffers from mental health issues, which makes her sponsorship of both bills somewhat concerning.

HB 2523 “Authorizes  gun  dealer  to  accept  for  safekeeping  firearm  surrendered  by  person  or  family  or household  member  of  person  who  is  at  risk  of  causing  physical  injury  to  self  or  others  with  firearm.”

The bill would appear to allow a family or household member to take someone else’s guns to a gun store and ask the gun dealer to store them because they think the person who owns the guns is dangerous. The dealer must then secure the gun “in a secure location.”

There is no requirement that the person who took the guns to the gun store have even the smallest qualification to determine another’s state of mind. But the bill gets even stranger. Under the bill, the gun must be returned to whoever brought it in, or whoever can prove ownership of the gun, when they request it. If anyone can explain how this makes sense, please let us know.

Aside from the fact that there is not a single reason why any gun dealer would want to accept this  responsibility with no compensation, it is hard to understand how a person taking your gun to a dealer against your will is not committing a theft. The bill does not require the gun dealer to conduct a background check to return the gun to the person who brought it in, or someone who can “prove” the gun is actually theirs, unless “required under Federal law.” It would appear Docs Buehler and Hayward need an introduction to Gun Laws 101. Keep in mind, under SB 941, which passed in 2015 with strong support of Dr Hayward, it is a crime for a person who is concerned about their mental health to allow a friend to safeguard their firearms.

HB 2526 will require gun dealers to provide “educational” material on suicide. These materials must be in a “prominent location near the point of sale.” The bill requires the Department of Justice to “create or approve” … “firearm safety and suicide prevention material.”  But wait, it gets better. “Multiple versions of materials must be created or approved, to reflect the different local values and cultures within this state.”

Buckle up folks. It is going to be a bizarre legislative session. And we are just getting started.

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BLOOMBERG STOOGE LOSES

12.14.16

THANK YOU. JOB WELL DONE.

hoyle

After a brief round of astonishingly softball questions, the Lane County Commissioners have sent Bloomberg stooge, Val Hoyle, to continue in private life. They have chosen Jim Manning to take Chris Edwards’ vacated Senate seat. The final vote was 2-3 with Bozievich and Leiken voting in favor of Hoyle, and Farr, Stewart and Sorenson voting for Manning.

Commissioner Jay Bozievich gushed about his close working relationship with Hoyle and his cooperation with her to get driver’s licenses for people with “green card issues.” He noted that the overwhelming number of emails he received about this appointment were against Hoyle and said he would “ignore that noise.”

Sid Leiken was “impressed” with the questions the commission asked and by all three candidates. He said he “did not give a damn” about the emails he got opposing Hoyle.

Republican Commissioner Pat Farr shared how he walked door to door to elect Val Hoyle for her House seat (yes, he said that.)  but he did not want to squander the opportunity to send an African American to be the first black Senator from Lane County. (He was talking about Jim Manning, the winner.)

Bozievich responded to this by saying he supported Hoyle even though he had a black roommate in college and two black people in his wedding party. (No, we are not making this up.)

Make no mistake, Jim Manning is no friend of gun owners and has the endorsement of far left organizations, but what he does not have is a quarter million of Bloomberg’s money.

Today was a great victory in keeping Hoyle away from the legislature. Thank you to everyone who made this happen. 

To Bozievich and Leiken, who have both sought help from OFF in the past, rest assured we will do all we can to see that you are replaced.

The commissions contact info can be found here.

They can be reached by phone at (541)-682-4203
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VAL HOYLE IS BACK

12.12.16

After her defeat to fascist Brad Avakian in her run for Secretary of State, (who himself lost to a rational person, Dennis Richardson) we could well face anti-gun extremist Val Hoyle back in the legislature.

You will recall it was Hoyle who rammed through the worst gun bill in Oregon history, SB 941. She was soon rewarded with a quarter million dollar pay-off from the New York billionaire and anti-gun zealot.

Senator Chris Edwards resigned last month and now the Lane County Commissioners are voting to replace him. Hoyle is one of the proposed candidates.

We have been told all the prospective replacements are “left of Lenin” but we know that Hoyle is Bloomberg’s handmaiden and very much in his debt.

Please contact the Lane County Commissioners and tell them “ANYONE BUT HOYLE.”

This vote could happen as soon as Wednesday. Please contact the commissioners today.

The email address for all commissioners provided on their website is lcbcccom@co.lane.or.us. Individual email addresses can be found here.

They can be reached by phone at (541)-682-4203

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FIRST ANTI-GUN BILL ANNOUNCED.

11.30.16

Kate Brown has announced the first of what we are sure will be an epidemic of anti-gun bills for 2017.

This proposed legislation mimics, and adds to, the concept behind HB 4147 from the 2016 session. A draft of the new bill can be seen here.

Currently Oregon law contains a safeguard, similar to Federal law, which simply says if the agency responsible for conducting background checks on firearms purchases is unable, or refuses, to complete a background check within a certain time frame, the buyer or “transferee” of the firearm may still legally take possession of the gun. In Oregon, background checks are conducted by the state police, often very badly.

The law does not require that gun dealers complete the transfer, it simply allows them to.

What the Governor is proposing is to eliminate that safeguard. She and other anti-gun Democrats are calling it a “loophole.”  Not a day goes by that we do not hear from someone who is being delayed on a firearms purchase for no reason. Often these are people who have successfully completed transfers in the recent past. Many times they are people with valid concealed handgun licenses.

There is NO limit on how long the Oregon State Police can take to complete a check. There are people who have waited two years.  If the State Police claim they need information from another state, and that state simply refuses to cooperate, a perfectly qualified person can be “delayed” on a purchase forever.

As you know, thanks to the passage of the Democrat’s SB 941 in 2015, virtually all private transfers are now illegal. As a result, this proposed legislation could become a de facto ban on gun purchases for anyone who the Oregon State Police simply say they cannot find enough information on.

The current system is a complete failure. You are required to ask the OSP for permission to exercise a right. If, through bureaucratic bungling or simple foot dragging, the OSP says it cannot complete your “permission slip” you are simply out of luck.

Imagine the impact this could have on a person attempting to obtain her first gun for self defense while facing a known threat. She knows the state and the police cannot protect her and now she is being told she cannot protect herself.

We were able to defeat this dangerous legislation in 2016 when anti-gun extremist, Jennifer Williamson introduced it. Now it’s back, no doubt the first of many. To express your concerns about this new and senseless attack on your rights and safety, please contact Heidi Moawad in the Governor’s office. Heidi.MOAWAD@oregon.gov

Talking points you may want to consider in your communication.

The rule that allows, but does not require, the transfer of a firearm after 3 business days have elapsed is not a “loophole” it is a safeguard.

The proposed legislation has absolutely no protections for persons unjustly denied a firearms purchase.

The proposed legislation places many people, especially women, in grave danger by potentially eliminating their ability to obtain a firearm for protection of themselves and their family.

The proposed legislation has no provisions for dealing with other states that do not cooperate with OSP’s records requests.

The proposed legislation contains no appeals process or other mechanism for persons to challenge unjust delays, which could, under this legislation, become de facto denials.

The Oregon State Police already have a terrible track record of conducting these checks and an equally bad record of responding to persons who have been delayed without cause.

The next wave of anti-gun legislation is on its way. This is the first announced proposal. Please make your voice heard and be prepared to do it again and again.

And remember, while the Republicans are in the minority, the Democrats love one thing more than they hate gun owners, and that’s money. But they cannot raise taxes without some Republicans agreeing.  The Republican minority has the power to block any tax bill and can, and should, use that leverage to tell the Democrats NO MORE GUN CONTROL. It’s going to be a rocky year. Stay involved.

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The Battles Are Just Beginning.

November 9. 2016
minuteman

The election of Donald Trump, along with victories for the Republicans in both the House and Senate, provide a truly historic opportunity to reverse much of the damage that has been done to the United States under the Obama regime.  The unimaginable destruction that Clinton-nominated Supreme Court Justices would have done to the Second Amendment has been averted. Predictably, the mainstream media is beside itself, and the attacks on people who voted for Trump continue. Whether all the leftist celebrities who promised to leave the country if Trump was elected will do so, it is still an uplifting idea.

Clinton ran on a platform of eliminating your right to keep and bear arms. She was soundly defeated.  That is indeed great news. But make no mistake, we are far from out of the woods.

Today, the anti-rights Brady Campaign sent their followers an email that said:

“Although we are incredibly disappointed that a candidate who ran his campaign on a message of hate, violence, intimidation, and fear will be the next President of the United States, that won’t stop us from fighting with everything we’ve got for the safer America we all want and deserve. “

Of course, no mention was made of the  violence orchestrated by Clinton’s surrogates or the rioting and flag burning that followed the election by Clinton supporters. The losers are violent and destructive and they are not going away any time soon.

Trump has a unique opportunity to do what he promised, to make America great again. Whether the Republican establishment will get on board, or do all they can to stand in his way remains to be seen, and exactly what a Trump presidency will look like is unknown. We do know that as a country we still face massive and deadly threats. But the certain destruction that would have resulted from 4 years of an egomaniacal, criminal, traitor as Commander In Chief has been avoided.

The news from Oregon is not as good.  While Hillary Clinton campaigned on a platform of attacking the Constitution and lost, Kate Brown campaigned on the same platform and won. She lost no time in declaring that one of her primary goals as Governor will be to further erode your rights.

The election of Dennis Richardson to Secretary of State was a positive sign in an otherwise unfortunate local election. Richardson is a smart, principled guy who is not going to use the office to promote an extremist agenda that we would have faced under his opponent. We believe that had Richardson been in office the signatures gathered to recall anti-gun zealot Floyd Prozanski would have been approved. Honesty and ethics in that office are essential.

Still, the Oregon Legislature remains solidly in the hands of anti-gun liberals and we can assure you that the bills to restrict your freedom have already been written.

There are a few races that are still too close to call with certainty, but it does not appear that we have picked up any House seats. A gain of two or three would have made a very big difference in our ability to hold back the worst of the coming bills. Some truly deserving candidates sadly failed to win. Still we thank them for fighting the good fight.

The defeat of Clinton is a giant victory for America but we have a lot of work to do in Oregon. If you want to help, please consider donating to our efforts here.

Remember, if you choose to donate to our PAC, your donation may be eligible for a tax credit. For more info please see this link.

The battles are just beginning. Thank you for being in them.

 

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A Crucial Election

10.22.06

Ballots are in the mail. We have never before faced an election where one of the main candidates for president has vowed to destroy your Second Amendment rights.

The stakes in this election are the highest they have ever been, and while there have been plenty of candidates who were opposed to gun ownership, never before has a major party candidate campaigned on a platform of eliminating a constitutional right.

It is absolutely essential that you return your ballot in this election. Not only does the office of President hang in balance, but the future of Oregon does as well.

Oregon consistently ranks at the bottom of nearly every metric, and the Democrats who control Salem have vowed to come back and make sure Oregon ranks at the bottom for the preservation of gun rights.

Please don’t sit this one out. Our candidate ratings have been up on our website for some time, but if you have not seen them please visit this link before your fill out your ballot. A change in just three House seats could mean the difference between protecting your right to keep and bear arms… and turning Oregon into another California.

This may be the most important election in your lifetime, so make sure your ballot is safely returned and make sure your friends  and family understand the crucial nature of this vote.

And please, if you have not already done so, consider a contribution to the Oregon Firearms Political Action Committee. We are, even at this late date, helping good candidates in their races. You can help with a contribution that may not cost you a dime.

Contributions to political action committees may qualify for a tax CREDIT so you may be able to donate and take the amount of your donation off any taxes you owe Oregon. For details on how this works, please see this link.

To contribute to OFFPAC and help us elect supporters of liberty, please use this link and check “Political Action Committee” in the Donation Category drop down menu.

Thank you.

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Shop at Fred Meyer, Protect Gun Rights

10.10.16

Do you shop at Fred Meyer? If you do, you can help support our battle to protect the endangered Second Amendment, and it won’t cost you a dime.

 If you have a Fred Meyer Rewards Card, Fred Meyer will donate a portion of your purchases to the Oregon Firearms Educational Foundation.

If you do, you still keep all the rewards points you have accumulated, you lose nothing.

 To sign up to make contributions to OFEF,  please visit Fred Meyer’s website. If you have signed up in the past, please visit the site to renew your pledge. Fred Meyers requires renewal if you have not done so since last June.

Because of the generosity of liberty lovers like you, Fred Meyers has made substantial donations to OFEF for several years. Remember, if you sign up for, or renew your participation in this program, it costs you nothing. You still get all the rewards points you have earned and you get to help OFEF continue its work defending your rights.

 You can go directly to the “Re-enroll or link your Rewards Card now” link here. Enter “Oregon Firearms Educational Foundation” and help us help you for free. (You can also use OFEF’s number 90384)

 Thank you.