Category: OFF Alerts

04.27.15 The House vote on the liberty smashing, privacy invading, woman attacking SB 941 will happen any day. It could be as soon as this Wednesday. Republicans plan to introduce alternatives (minority reports) and this might slow it down, but not by much. We are heading into the home stretch on one of the worst anti-gun bills in the country. If 941 passes, it will make it illegal for someone to leave a firearm in your safekeeping unless they first conducted a background check on you. Consider the implications.  Your friend or neighbor is suddenly faced with the critical need to remove a firearm from her house. Perhaps she is experiencing a mental health crisis. Maybe she suddenly finds herself having to care for someone who should not have a gun available. You’re willing to store the gun in your safe, but you are forbidden from doing so until you pass a background check which could take months ! Or, the opposite happens. Someone you know is in fear for her life and has no way to protect herself. You cannot provide a firearm to her unless she passes a check by the Oregon State Police. Because the system so often fails, for some this could be a death sentence. Want to lend a friend a hunting rifle? Sorry that’s illegal. What if you have a firearms trust? Can those guns be transferred? No one knows. 23 counties have opposed this bill. Many sheriffs have come out in opposition. Even its sponsors and supporters admit it won’t stop crime. But the vast majority of Democrats in the legislature have chosen to ignore them, and you, to ramrod this bill through as another building block towards complete registration and confiscation.  They have continued to read from a discredited script like mindless drones. We have little time to defeat this, so please contact the Democrats listed below. These are the people who can kill this bill. (Democrat Jeff Barker has already made it clear he will oppose this terrible bill.) The Bloomberg funded anti-gunners have pulled out all the stops with media campaigns and email blitzes.  Time to double down. Please send the message, “SB 941 does nothing to stop criminals but endangers the law abiding, especially single women with no protection against predators.  The promoters of this bill have put a bull’s eye on the backs of the most vulnerable. Vote no on SB 941.” Rep Brent Barton  503-986-1440   Rep.BrentBarton@state.or.us Rep Deborah Boone  503-986-1432  rep.deborahboone@state.or.us Rep Brian Clem  503-986-1421    rep.brianclem@state.or.us Rep Betty Komp   503-986-1422 rep.bettykomp@state.or.us Rep Caddy McKeown  503-986-1409 Rep.CaddyMcKeown@state.or.us Rep  Brad Witt       503- 986-1431  Rep.BradWitt@state.or.us Please Act Now. Val Hoyle recall campaign. Chuck Riley, Susan McLain recall campaign.

04.23.15

Yesterday the House Rules Committee held a marathon hearing on SB 941, the universal gun owner registration bill.

While the anti-rights side provided the usual collection of lies and misrepresentations, we were very gratified and proud to have had powerful testimony for the rights of Oregonians by panels of informed, thoughtful advocates.

Joining OFF and the NRA on the first panel were Sheriffs Tim Svenson of Yamhill County and John Hanlin of Douglas County.

They both provided compelling testimony against this bill. We are deeply grateful that they took a stand. Residents of those counties are lucky to have them as Sheriff.

County Commissioners also came from as far away as Wallowa and Wheeler Counties to oppose this dangerous and outrageous attack on liberty and safety.

Commissioner Paul Castilleja came from Wallowa County, and Judge Chris Perry came from Wheeler County. Commissioner Tootie Smith came from Clackamas, Kevin Cameron came from Marion. Commissioner Stan Primozich came from Yamhill County.

Commissioners Chris Boice and Tim Freeman came from Douglas County.

Each and every one of them made very powerful statements against this bill. We are indebted to them for standing up against the tyranny of the Democrats in the legislature.

We also want to thank Lee Richeson of Rich’s Guns in Donald and Karl Durkheimer of NW Armory in Portland for representing gun dealers. Keep them in mind when you are shopping. These folks went to bat for gun owners based solely on their principles and commitment to our rights. Also providing excellent testimony was Joe Dula representing the Canby Rod and Gun Club. If more clubs and ranges took the stand that CRGC did, this battle would be far easier to win.

Ironically, at the same time the committee was hearing this bill that will prevent you from lending a firearm to someone in danger, or storing a firearm for a friend, one more city, Mollalla, passed a resolution opposing the bill!

Today, the Rules Committee voted on the bill after refusing to consider a number of proposals that would provide greater penalties for criminals, protect victims of crime, and fund mental health services. The Democrats on the committee voted down every one of these proposals.  Democrat Dan Rayfield responded to each proposal with a parrot like mantra of “dangerous loophole.”  We lost count of how many times he used the phrase.

Along party lines, the Democrats on the committee also voted down a proposal to remove the “emergency clause” from the bill.

The “emergency clause” is a tool used by legislators to make sure that citizens cannot block a bill by referendum. The Democrats are so determined to ram this through they are doing everything they can to prevent you from stopping it.

This is the most dangerous anti-gun bill to have ever gotten this far in the legislature. Your rights, your privacy and your guns are truly in the crosshairs.  The liars who are pushing this bill will stop at nothing and their pockets are filled with Bloomberg money. They bussed in school children to use as props and flew up a “gun dealer” from California (Joe Deaser) who claimed (falsely) that he just came on his own because “he heard about the bill.” This was provably false. He was on panel of invited testimony, something he lied about when questioned. He bragged about how he could cash in on mandatory background checks. He had appeared as “invited testimony” when the bill was heard on the Senate side.

The bill now moves to the full House for a vote. That will be our last chance to stop it. The other side has unlimited funds. All we have is you.

Please keep up the pressure. At this point we believe no Republicans will vote for this bill, so please concentrate on the House Democrats when you contact them.

If you want to send a personal note to your House Rep, especially if they are a Democrat, you can find them using this link.

On the right side of that page use the “Find My Legislators” link to find your Oregon House Rep. Call and email them.

Should this bill pass, you will become a criminal if you lend a firearm to a hunting buddy, provide a gun for a woman facing a predator or store a gun for a friend.

You will be forbidden from transferring a gun to another person without going through a dealer, paying high fees and facing the notoriously failed Oregon background check system.

Because of the behavior of legislators who are determined to undermine your rights and ignore the wise counsel of law enforcement, several recall campaigns have begun.

There is one against House Rep Val Hoyle, who hid her anti-gun agenda well enough to get an endorsement from the NRA and became the chief mover of this bill in the House, and another against Bloomberg lacky Chuck Riley in the Senate and a House Rep within his district, Susan McLain.

We believe these efforts are important and urge you to support them in any way you can, especially if you live in those districts.

Val Hoyle recall campaign.

Chuck Riley, Susan McLain recall campaign.

 

04.20.15

SB 941, the mandatory gun owner registration bill  is scheduled for its House hearing this Wednesday at 3pm. Invited testimony starts at 1pm. You can sign up starting at 11.30 am.

The public hearing will be in the House Rules Committee in hearing room HR 50.Testimony will be taken until 10PM. There will be a dinner recess at 5.30.

Please come, especially if you have been the victim of the failed background check system.

This hearing is very important. The counties oppose this bill, the sheriffs oppose this bill.  We need you to come and oppose it! If you want to send written testimony please use this address  hrules.exhibits@state.or.us

04.19.15

Today we picked the winning ticket for our rifle raffle. The rifle was an AR, generously donated by our friends at RRC Firearms.

As we told you, the rifle comes with one high powered 30 clip assault bullet holder clip and a shoulder thing that goes up.

 

 

We transferred the rifle to the winner today. It was everything the anti-gun zealots fear. The weapon of war, the self animated killing machine, was transferred directly from the trunk of  car, in an obscure location with no background check!

It’s this very kind of transfer that will no longer be “easy” if the Democrats pass SB 941. 941 will require that the two parties to the transfer find an available gun store that agrees to deal with the transfer of a firearm that’s not even theirs.  A large fee will have to be paid and the parties are now subject to the frequently failed Oregon background check system. If there is an unjustified delay or denial, well tough luck for you.

So, here is where this all becomes cosmically ironic. You see, the rifle was won by State Senator Alan Olsen. Under the Democrats’ bill we would have actually been forced to subject him to a “background check” to see if he was lawfully allowed to have a rifle.  You cannot make this stuff up. The ticket was chosen by Traci Hensley, a member of the Canby City Council. She is pictured below with the winner.

Thanks to everyone who participated and congratulations to Senator Olsen. The battle continues.

04.15.15

Even as the Democrats in the legislature continue their efforts to ram through SB 941 by rigging the system and lying about the bill, resistance is mounting.  We have just received a notification from the City of Myrtle Creek (Douglas County) that they have passed a resolution opposing SB 941.  You may recall that the City of Myrtle Point in Coos County passed a similar resolution in March. The City of Port Orford is scheduled to vote on one tomorrow.

It’s becoming painfully obvious that the people of the state oppose this attack on their rights and the Democrats in the legislature are determined to shove this bill through in spite of the fact that most counties have expressed opposition and more and more sheriffs want nothing to do with it.

House Majority Leader Val Hoyle is promising to fast track the bill through the House. It’s safe to assume that the deck will be stacked against gun owners when hearings are held in that chamber.

Tomorrow at 8am the Senate Judiciary Committee will be hearing another attack on your rights, SB 945.  945 will require that you keep firearms locked up. The Chief Sponsor is Senator Elizabeth Hayward whose comments on the floor debate yesterday for the universal gun registration bill (SB 941) demonstrated she has no idea what the law actually says or is willing to lie about it. It tells you all you need to know about the Democrat’s agenda that while Hayward is demanding that you keep firearms locked up, she voted for a bill that would make you a criminal if you locked up firearms for a friend or neighbor!

In the midst of this battle, you can rest assured that some will use it to cash in. Today we received a fundraising letter from “Oregon Gun Owners“.  This group is using their name to convince real gun owners that they are protecting gun rights in Oregon.   OGO is run by Paul Phillips. Phillips is a contract lobbyist who runs PAC/WEST Communication and has testified in favor of anti-gun bills. In fact, OGO has had virtually no presence in Salem during the major fights including the battle against universal gun registration.  OGO has endorsed Floyd Prozanski and Peter Courtney as well as contributing to them and anti-gun politicians Val Hoyle, Arnie Roblan, Dave Hunt, Phil Barnhart, Alan Bates, Lee Beyer, and Martha Schrader.

Oregon Gun Owners was responsible for HB 2535 in 1999, the first, failed effort to end private sales of firearms at gun shows.

A quick look at their website shows they have made no efforts to battle gun control in 2015 and in fact have done nothing but report on events well after the fact.  Don’t be fooled by “Oregon Gun Owners.”

04.14.15

With no surprises, the Oregon Senate today passed SB 941, the universal gun owner registration bill.

Republicans made numerous motions to act on bills that would actually have a positive effect on the lives of Oregonians.

These included bills that would provide funds for improving mental health treatment, protecting the victims of sex trafficking. and aiding law enforcement in counties crushed by regulations that prevent them from generating revenue from natural resources.  Every Senate Democrats voted against every single motion.

Senator Diane Rosenbaum used a procedural move to shut the Republicans down and force immediate consideration of the bill.

In the course of the floor debate it became clear that the chief sponsor of the bill, Floyd Prozanski, either had no idea what was in his bill or was willing to openly lie about it. He answered numerous questions with answers that were patently false.

The usual false statistics were trotted out by the anti-gunners.  The truth about what this bill will do was hidden. The complications and contradictions contained in the bill were lied about.

Senator Elisabeth Hayward, who has admitted to an inability to function without psychiatric medication, made a bizarre rambling speech about mental health and openly lied about current law saying that now, people who conduct background checks have no protection from liability if they transfer a gun. Of course, this is false.

While Democrat Betsy Johnson voted “no” on the final bill, she did vote with the rest of the Democrats on two procedural motions to move the bill forward.

When asked what would happen if a person wanted to store his guns in a friend’s safe (since this would be illegal under the bill) Prozanski said that maybe the local DA would just “choose not to prosecute.”

This bill now allows you to transfer a firearm to the spouse or gay lover of a family member if you KNOW the family member is a felon, but not to  a heterosexual girlfriend or boyfriend you live with.

Although Prozanski lied about it on the floor, the bill completely outlaws transfers of handguns to persons 18-21 years of age if they are not a relative. Of course, there’s plenty more that makes this bill a nightmare.

The fight now moves to the House. And it will move very fast. Expect it to be assigned to the House Rules Committee instead of the Judiciary Committee where it would face opposition. And keep fighting. This is not over by a long shot.

04.13.15

Brett Webb is a  Councilman in the City of Port Orford. He is also a Port Commissioner.  Mr. Webb will be proposing a city wide resolution in opposition to the universal gun owner registration bill being rammed through the legislature.

If his resolution passes, Port Orford will join over 20 other counties and cities standing up to the Prozanski/ Hoyle gun grab.

You can see a copy of the resolution here.  Councilman Webb will be introducing this resolution this Thursday at 3:30pm. 

You can help. Please send a note in support of Councilman Webb’s pro-rights resolution to the members of the City Council.

Jim Billings  jbillings@portorford.org
Email

Caroline Clancy  cclancy@portorford.org
Email

Milton Finch, Sr  mfinch@portorford.org
Email

Francie MacLeod  fmacleod@portorford.org
Email

Tim Pogwizd  tpogwizd@portorford.org
Email

Brett Webb  bwebb@portorford.org
Email

Sample message follows:
______________________
Dear Council Member,

I strongly support Councilman Webb’s proposed resolution in opposition to an expansion of Oregon’s failed background check system to private transfers between friends and family members.  As you know, over 20 counties have voiced their opposition to this terrible idea and I am proud to see that you are considering joining them.  The current system regularly denies transfers to qualified buyers and there are practically no examples of these denials actually being used to stop criminals. This bill racing through the legislature would even forbid me from safeguarding a firearm for someone who had to be out of town.  Clearly, this benefits no one.  Please approve this resolution and send a message to Salem that you want to protect the rights of your residents.

Yours,

04.09.15 

The Prozanski/Hoyle gun grab will soon be voted on in the Oregon Senate. Until the gavel falls, don’t stop hammering them. If it should pass there, prepare to hammer the House. In spite of all the duplicitous rhetoric from the anti-rights crowd about “reasonable and common sense” gun laws, they have proven themselves to be not only unreasonable, but out and out irrational. When Senator Kim Thatcher proposed an alternative that would actually help keep guns out of the hands of criminals, without invading the privacy of legitimate gun owners, it was dismissed with no discussion. So much for “reasonable.”  Representative Bill Post has also proposed an alternative that would protect law abiding gun owners. His bill, HB 3528 protects the privacy of the law abiding and even requires immediate records destruction after a transfer is approved, if a person conducts a voluntary background check.  Let’s see if the House Democrats who are looking for “reasonable” measures will even discuss this bill. House Democrat Leader Val Hoyle, who has hidden her anti-gun agenda in the past, is a sponsor of this attack on your rights. If she does not insist that Post’s bill be heard and passed, she will have proven just how dangerous a hypocrite she is. We have updated our automailer to reflect the changing complexion of the battle.  Please make use of it, and thanks for your tireless activism.

04.06.15

Today, to no one’s surprise, Floyd Prozanski rammed his gun owner registration bill through the Senate Judiciary Committee.

While this was not unexpected, the process has been abused even by the grotesquely low standards of Prozanski and Senate President, Peter Courtney.

After denying most opponents of the bill an opportunity to testify against it, even though they vastly outnumbered the supporters, today Prozanski refused to even consider amendments proposed by Senator Kim Thatcher.

The bill passed out of committee on a straight party line vote with the 3 Democrats voting yes and Senators Kim Thatcher and Jeff Kruse voting no.

The bill will now be raced to the Senate floor for a vote as quickly as possible. This vote can come any day now and we expect it almost immediately.

The Senate has only one pro-gun Democrat, so the bill will almost certainly pass there. But, then it moves to the House where the battle begins again. So this is far from over. Please don’t let up on your efforts to oppose this monstrosity.

Today we learned of more sheriffs who oppose the bill and at least one more who has said he will not enforce it.  The fight goes on. We also spoke to several county commissioners who promised to continue to fight.

Thanks for all you are doing, and never, ever give up. Keep the pressure up.

4.04.15
What happens when the hired help decides to use your money to promote their agenda? Don Johnson happens.  Johnson is the Chief of Police for Lake Oswego, Oregon.

Johnson is not elected. He was hired by the City to serve as Chief of Police. He was not given carte blanche to use his office, his uniform, and his position with the City to promote a deceitful agenda attacking your rights. But that’s exactly what he’s done.

Not only did Johnson testify against your rights in the Oregon Legislature, in his uniform, (no doubt while on the clock) Johnson went further, appearing as a prop at an anti-gun press conference and recording anti-gun puff pieces for well funded anti-gun groups.

Did Johnson get greased by his handlers as well as collecting his Lake Oswego salary?  That would be lucrative wouldn’t it?

Here’s a photo taken at the anti-gun press conference following last week’s hearing on an end to private transfers of firearms.

Johnson is on the far right.

The person at the podium is Mike Reese, the former Chief of Police of Portland, who was also at the hearing and testified that there is no current way for private persons to conduct background checks for gun purchases. This, of course, is totally false. Oregon has allowed private parties to conduct background checks for 15 years. Apparently Reese did not get the memo. We can only hope the current chief there is somewhat better informed.

Reese is retired. He can do what he wants and tell as many lies as he chooses to. But Johnson is being paid with taxpayer dollars. His misuse of his office should not be tolerated.

More and more sheriffs, who are elected to office and actually represent the people of their counties, are rising up in opposition to SB 941. As elected representatives of their counties, they have every right to take a stand. (It should be noted that the Sheriff of Grant County, who came to oppose this bill, did not use a dime of taxpayer’s money to attend, though he could have.)

People like Johnson are employees of the City and should not be taking political stands unless directed to by their bosses.

Did the City of Lake Oswego authorize this particular abuse? We have reason to believe they did not.

If you’re curious why not ask the City Council (CouncilDistribution@ci.oswego.or.us) a simple question?

Did you authorize your Chief of Police to use his office and uniform to attack my rights and advance a personal agenda?

We look forward to hearing from them.

04.03.14

As you know, action on the gun owner registration bill, SB 941, has been postponed  until Monday.

The reason for this was an amendment that was proposed by Senator Kim Thatcher.

The amendment would have required that felons be identified on their driver’s license as prohibited persons and as such could not conduct a firearms transfer. From the responses we have received it appears most thought this was a good idea. (As we did.)

However, after more careful examination, Senator Thatcher is now proposing what we think is a better idea.

First, let’s understand what the problems were with the original proposal.

While it would be technically possible to provide list of felons to the Department of Motor Vehicles, there are other people who are prohibited for which no such list exists. Each person would have to have an individual background check to determine if they were in these other classes of prohibited people. Even if that were technically feasible, which is not likely, we would then be putting prohibitors on, and identifying people, who, for example, have been adjudicated mentally ill. That would be unfair.

We would also have to put identifiers on people convicted of “misdemeanor domestic violence.” Untold numbers of people have lost their gun rights because of unscrupulous prosecutions under this draconian Federal law. They should not have lost their rights in the first place and putting an identifier on their license would simply be adding insult to injury.

Add to this the fact, that in Oregon, many people lose their rights to possess firearms when they been convicted of nothing and have not even accused of a crime. Those people are subject to one of the many kinds of “restraining orders” Oregon issues. They lose their gun rights with no due process. We don’t want them included in any process that identifies “prohibited persons.”

So what Senator Thatcher is proposing is to make the following change in Oregon law.

An old Oregon statute makes it a crime to transfer a firearm to a prohibited person, if you “knew” or should “reasonably have known” that the person was prohibited.

That statue was written long before Oregon instituted its voluntary background check system which allows any private party to conduct a background check on a person to whom they are transferring a firearm. This system is totally voluntary outside of gun shows and has been in place for 15 years.

What Senator Thatcher is proposing (and remember we don’t have a final draft of the amendment yet) is to simply make it illegal to sell to a prohibited person. The requirement that you “knew” or “should have known” would be deleted.  But checks would not be mandated.

This means that if you are giving a gun to a trusted friend, you would not have to subject yourself and your friend to the foolish and expensive process Prozanski and Burdick are proposing. You would not have to pay a fee, find a gun store who would conduct the check, and register the gun, (assuming the check system was even working correctly, which often it is not.)

On the other hand, if you were selling a gun to someone you did not know at all, someone you had some concerns about (say someone with an Obama sticker on their car) you would be able to take advantage of the existing system to conduct a check on the buyer. If you did conduct the check and they were approved, you would be free from any liability for their future actions.  However, the check would still be totally voluntary. If the person was prohibited and you chose not to run a check, you would be liable. But you would never have to deal with this on transfers to people you knew and trusted.

For whatever reason, the people of Oregon elected a majority of anti gun-rights legislators this session.  They have control of the Senate and the House. The Senate President has vowed to ram a dangerous gun registration bill through. The Speaker of the House and the Democratic Majority leader, have promised they are going  to ignore the advice of many sheriffs and the stated position of many counties and do all they can to attack your privacy. If their bill passes, your ability to conduct a private transaction with your own property will be gone. If you are the victim of the one of the many failures of the system you are simply out of luck. That is their goal.

Senator Thatcher’s proposed amendment calls their bluff. It is well thought out and protects gun owners’ rights. We commend her for her courageous efforts to stand in the way of the gun grabbers.

04.02.15
Action on the gun owner registration bill, SB 941, was postponed today until Monday.

The reason was because of an amendment that was proposed by Senator Kim Thatcher.

The amendment would eliminate the proposed expensive, intrusive and inaccurate background checks that would be required for private transfers, and replace them with a system whereby only prohibited persons would be identified.

Although the details would need some fine tuning, how it would work would be this:  If you are a prohibited person, your driver’s license would include an indicator, just as it does now for corrective lenses or organ donors.

Non prohibited persons would have no change.  If you wanted to transfer a firearm you would only need to see the back of the recipients driver’s license or state ID card. If there is no prohibitor the transfer is made with no background check, no fee, no registration and no paperwork.

There will be no record of the transfer and no list of guns or gun owners.

 Transfers at dealers would have no changes, except a dealer would have the advantage of knowing beforehand that a person was going to be denied and could save himself the time and expense of running the check.

Because of the speed at which bills and amendments are created, there is no question that there will need to be technical adjustments, but it does put the gun grabbers in an interesting situation. It basically gives them everything they have demanded;  a way to prevent transfers to prohibited people, but without the registration they claim they were not seeking. (Of course they are lying about that so now what will they say?)

If the background check system is as easy and reliable as the anti-gun crowd claims it is, they should be totally on board with this idea. Monday promises to be interesting.

Yesterday we told you about  HB 3093. This bill would allow certain people who have permits to carry concealed handguns in other states to carry in Oregon. We said we thought the bill was a bad idea. Some folks misunderstood our stand. Our objection was not to allowing non residents to carry in Oregon. We’ve been working on that for many years. Our objection was to allowing the State Police to decide which states they would recognize. This was a power they had in the past and refused to recognize a single state.

Our preference would be to do away with permits and move to Constitutional Carry as more and more states are doing, but we would support starting with recognizing other states. We do not want the State Police to decide which ones. We are working on amendments which should address this issue. If they are adopted, the bill will be a great first step in ending Oregon’s absurd policy of not recognizing a single other state’s permit.

In a touch of interesting timing, we have been informed that Columbia County has added its name to the list of counties standing up for the Second Amendment. We will post it as soon as we have a completed copy. To the people who worked tirelessly to make that happen, thank you!

04.01.15

In a fitting tribute to April Fool’s Day, Floyd Prozanski held a hearing today on his gun owner registration bill, SB 941.

We want to thank everyone who came out to testify against this dangerous legislation, especially Sheriff Glenn Palmer of Grant County.

Since yesterday, several other Sheriffs have gone on record opposing the bill, including the sheriffs of Yamhill, Douglas, and Columbia County. We applaud them. The Oregon State Sheriffs Association itself however, fearful of retribution by the Democrat controlled Senate, refused to take a position.

In what was a moment of either breathtaking stupidity or astonishing ignorance, the former Chief of Police of Portland, Mike Reese, testified that there is no way currently for private parties to conduct background checks for gun purchases. Mercifully many of our sheriffs are better informed. 

The bill will be voted on tomorrow morning and sent to the Senate floor. It’s likely they will do this as quickly as possible. DO NOT LET UP. There is still time to kill this as it moves through the process and it must also pass in the House.

 

This morning, another anti-gun bill was introduced. SB 945 is a “lock up your guns” law. One of its sponsors, Paul Evans, has tried to paint himself as pro-gun. We rated him an “F-” when he ran for office. Here’s why.  (We rated Rep. Val Hoyle a “B”. She has been downgraded to F- as well, due to her sponsorship of the SB 941.)

 

On April 6th, the House Judiciary Committee will be hearing HB 3093. This bill would allow certain people who have permits to carry concealed handguns in other states to carry in Oregon. The bill gives the Oregon State Police the authority to decide which states qualify. For obvious reasons, we think this is a really bad idea. 

 

 

03.31.15

  Your efforts are paying off!  In addition to Sheriff Glenn Palmer of Grant County, who expressed vocal opposition to the Democrats’ Bloomberg-funded gun owner registration bill, yesterday two more Oregon sheriffs went on record opposing this dangers step towards gun confiscation.

Sheriff Pat Garrett of Washington County sent out an email to gun owners who asked him to take a stand and said:

 

1. I am concerned criminals will get around the new law by accessing firearms another way.  For more than a few criminals, the threat of a misdemeanor criminal charge will not be a significant deterrent.
2. The law will be onerous for law abiding citizens with layers of new requirements.  Many Oregonians are serious sport shooters, hunters and collectors.  Frequently and with great care, they buy, sell and trade firearms with each other.  I am concerned this law could create crimes and criminals out of otherwise law abiding people.  Also, it’s unclear what priority prosecutors and stressed court systems will place on charging people who up to this time were crime-free except for an unauthorized gun transfer under this new law.
3. I am concerned that much of this law will be unenforceable.  It’s unclear how law enforcement will learn of unauthorized transfers, and in many cases it will be very challenging to disprove a claim that a transfer was temporary in nature and therefore authorized.  Laws that are largely unenforceable diminish respect for the law in general, which we do not need in today’s environment.
4. I am concerned how the State plans to account for the fiscal impact and increased pressure on the current background check system.  The State’s background system is already heavily burdened, and additional requests could significantly slow the system further, unless additional funds are provided to bolster capacity.

And now Sheriff Bruce Riley of Linn County, has posted on his Facebook page the following :

“As Sheriff of Linn County I am frequently asked by citizens my opinion on proposed legislation. There are many bills before the Oregon State Legislature this year that in my opinion, are cause for concern. One of these bills is SB 941 which calls for background checks on the private party transaction of firearms.

While this bill may look good on the surface, don’t be fooled; It does nothing to make our families, communities, schools or businesses safer. Adding additional requirements and unnecessary laws for law abiding citizens is a waste of time and resources; time and resources that could be better spent on stiffening our current laws that deal with crimes committed with guns and the mental health issues that currently face our community every day.

As your Sheriff, I am committed to keeping guns away from criminals. I am equally committed in allowing law abiding citizens the right to possess firearms without further infringement.”

 No matter what happens when this bill is voted on in the Senate Committee, there is still a way to go before this bill can become law, so our fight will continue. If your sheriff has not taken a stand, there is still time to tell him you expect him to. You can find contact info for all sheriffs here.

Thanks for your hard work and dedication to this cause.