Critical town hall meeting on Wednesday night. Please try to be there.

With every passing hour, the Washington County Elections office is finding more votes for Chuck Riley, the Bloomberg funded, anti-gun extremist running against Republican Bruce Starr for Oregon Senate in the 15th district.

This dramatic turn around for Riley, who had been trailing, is a remarkable re-run of John Kitzhaber’s last minute win in 2010 when a whole boatload of votes appeared at the eleventh hour in Multnomah County. Funny how that works.

Whether Starr eventually prevails or not, the Democrats have picked up the one seat they need to ram through any attack on the Second Amendment they want to.

Although they already had a one vote edge, that one vote was held by Senator Betsy Johnson, who could be counted on to be rational when it came to anti-gun votes.  Now with the defeat of another pro-gun Betsy, Senator Betsy Close, by rabid anti-gunner Sara Gelser, the Dems can go around Senator Johnson and pass their entire laundry list of gun grabs in the Senate.

The anti-rights radicals have made no secret that they hope to make this change in the Senate their key to smashing Second Amendment rights.  Remember, these people, for all their lies about “reasonable, common sense” laws, have tried to ban all modern firearms and allow the police to search your home without a warrant!

With the re-election of John Kitzhaber, who has made gun control a central theme of his administration, (along with unprecedented corruption) and the passage of I-594 in Washington, Bloomberg’s well funded stooges are convinced they have a mandate to eliminate gun rights in Oregon.

We have no intention of letting that happen.  The fact is, I-594 passed in Washington because the media and the state worked side by side to deceive Washington residents about what the ballot measure did. There was not a well coordinated response by gun owners. We must not allow that to happen here.

That brings us to Arnie Roblan.  Roblan served in Oregon’s House and even served as “co-speaker” when the Oregon House was evenly split.  Although a Democrat, Roblan stood up for gun owners’ rights. Then he got elected to the Senate.

Under intense pressure from Senate President Peter Courtney and the Democrat caucus, Roblan did a hard left rudder. After promising to vote against more gun restrictions, Roblan voted in favor of 4 anti-gun bills in 2013.

Gun owners responded in force. All 4 bills were killed after passing out of Roblan’s committee.

Then, in this year’s session, Roblan got the message and voted against the one anti-gun bill that made it to his committee. Roblan felt the heat and saw the light. Now we have to remind Roblan that voting to attack the rights of the people in his district would not be in his best interest.

It’s essential that Roblan continue to hear from gun owners across the state. If you live in or near Yamhill County you can remind Roblan to protect your rights this Wednesday, November 12 in Sheridan. Roblan will be holding a town hall at the Larson Hall Conference Center, Delphian School, 20590 SW Rock Creek Road, Sheridan, Oregon 97378 at 7.30 PM

For more info you can contact the Delphian School  at 800-626-6610 ex 315. If you can attend this meeting, your voice will make a difference.

11.05.14

Oregon has re-elected the Governor of Portland.  John Kitzhaber had been chosen to serve a 4th term.

Oregon is now at, or near, the bottom of every major metric with one exception. Oregon leads the country in foreclosures. The executive office of the state has been held by a Democrat for longer than many people have been alive. Kitzhaber has held that office for 12 of those years and, if not indicted, will hold it for 4 more.

After Obama took office he blamed every failure of his policies on previous administrations. Kitzhaber didn’t have that luxury, but it didn’t matter.

Millions of your dollars have been squandered on failed websites and bridges to nowhere. No one knows how many more millions have been funneled to Kitzhaber through his felonious girlfriend and shady deals with friends.

Both The Oregonian and Willamette Week have reported heavily on the blatant corruption of this governor and also endorsed him.

For anyone who has wondered how places like Chicago, Detroit and Washington DC can continue to embrace crooks, you now have your answer.

The single worst manager this state has ever seen will now have free rein to line his pockets and those of his significant other for four more years. Our schools and economy will continue to compete with Haiti and Guatemala in a race to the bottom.

That’s the good news.

The bad news is that the Oregon Senate has replaced a pro-gun stalwart with a woman who wants to take gun rights away from foster parents. Sara Gelser is the new  Senator for District 8.  Sara was the lucky recipient of a windfall from a California billionaire who helped (millionaire) Gelser attack Betsy Close because she supported a woman’s right to own a gun for self defense.

Another Senate seat, Republican Bruce Starr’s, is still too close to call at the time of this posting. His opponent, Chuck Riley was funded by Michael Bloomberg.

The Oregon Senate is already 16-14 Democrat. With only one exception, Betsy Johnson, they are all anti-gun. Gaining one seat alone will allow them to pass virtually any anti-gun bill they choose. And they have made it clear they will be working a long list of anti-gun proposals.  Sure to come up is universal gun registration which is a precursor everywhere for confiscation. Just ask the folks in New York who have had their guns confiscated thanks to the kind of registration former Mayor Bloomberg is pushing across the country.

Add to that the bills they have never been able to pass before.

Semi-auto bans.

Magazine bans.

A ban on guns in schools.

An end to preemption allowing every town to make their own rules.

Warrantless searches of your home.

Lock up laws.

A mandate to run away from an attacker.

That’s just a warm up.

The Republicans also lost one seat in the House although that seat was held by a “Republican” (Vicki Berger) who voted anti-gun and attacked pro-gun Republicans.  Not much of a net loss there.

On top of all this news is the passage of Ballot Measure 594 in Washington State. This is the universal registration/background check bill paid for by Michael Bloomberg, Bill Gates, Paul Allen and other fairly well off folks.

This measure could make you a felon for handing a gun to a buddy at the range. Yes, it’s that bad.

While there is no question that this measure only happened because of unlimited funds by billionaire gun grabbers, it’s also true that there was not a particularly effective counter campaign.  The “rich” gun lobby never came close to matching the funds spent by the gun grabbers. No doubt many who voted for this had no idea just how dangerous it is.

In fact, many gun owners simply don’t see the danger in “background checks.”  And this will be the battle folks. There can be no real “background checks” without universal registration.

Over and over this has been the path to confiscation.

Make no mistake. If the gun grabbers succeed with any of these plans they won’t be stopping there.

First they came for gun dealers, then they came for gun shows. Now they will be coming to stop you from giving a gun as a gift to a family member or lending one to a friend whose life is in jeopardy. Those simple acts will make you a criminal.

None of these attacks will affect criminals or people intent on suicide. As long as there is one misuse of a gun, the haters of freedom will be pushing for more restrictions. Time after time they have shown their hand and made it clear that they will not be satisfied until every gun is controlled by the state.

In 1999, the Oregon Legislature was ramming through a background check bill. It had passed the Senate and went to the House where it was made worse by a political gadfly, Republican House Rep. Kevin Mannix.

Mannix worked behind the scenes with groups pretending to be pro-gun to create HB 2535, a bill to ban private sales of firearms.

It was supposed to be a “sure thing”. Only the Oregon Firearms Federation opposed it.

OFF was then about 6 months old, but even them we defeated this bill against all odds and with no help from the NRA.  We can do it again with your help.  But frankly, it’s going to take a heck of a lot of work by all of us.

A ballot measure funded by billionaires is going to be  different story. If that happens there will  simply be no substitute for money.

The anti-gun side now has unlimited funds and has made no secret that they see the ballot measure process as a roadmap to New York style gun control. Too many voters know too little about the truth of these measures.

Oregon Firearms Federation is a political organization. Our focus is on winning political battles through activism. But we cannot underestimate the threats to your rights based on the changes in the Oregon Legislature and the introduction of limitless funds by those who want to steal your freedom.  While we urge you to prepare for the political battles ahead and be a part of this fight, you should also consider making any preparations now to deal with potential bans and confiscations.

Get ready. It’s going to be a wild ride.

11.04.14

Last night’s Corvallis City Council meeting on a proposed loaded carry bad was appropriately held in a theater.

Although the public opposed the proposal overwhelmingly (37 to 12 by one count) most of the Council voiced the opinion that the ordinance should be passed, while noting that it would accomplish exactly… nothing.

Corvallis is legally allowed to ban loaded carry of firearms, in public places by persons without concealed handgun licenses, they have no power to ban open carry of unloaded guns or any carry by license holders.

Since the proponents of the ban based their support exclusively on their discomfort seeing guns, clearly this ordinance would not help ease their delicate sensibilities.  As one Oathkeeper pointed out, if you don’t have XRAY vision you still don’t know if the guns that strike fear into your heart are loaded or not.  So all those who are fearful or offended by the sight of a firearm are just going to have to continue to live in terror.

Much of the testimony in favor of limiting gun owners’ rights made it clear that the real goal is the elimination of guns altogether and had nothing to do with the ordinance. All of the talk about suicides and the violence in the hearts of men really didn’t address the issue of “seeing” a gun.

Several people said that they wanted to end open carry because a person carrying a gun could kill you over any minor disagreement, like asking them not to smoke in the park.  None of these folks acknowledged that a person who was concealing a gun can kill you too.

One of the principle arguments the gun grabbers use against concealed carry holders is that by “hiding” their guns they are capable of committing all kinds of mayhem that could be avoided if people could see the guns and flee.   But now they don’t want to see them either.

Councilor Joel Hirsch spent the entire hearing ignoring speakers and staring at his laptop. (Updating his My Space page no doubt.) Councilor Mike Bielstein hid behind his laptop which is covered with a flag of Cuba.  When questioned about his allegiances he said “talk to me after the meeting” but during one short break he high-tailed it off the stage to seek refuge behind the curtains.

There was essentially no police presence there in spite of the attempts by the liberty haters to gin up fear. And amazingly, there were no incidents.

Ironically, there were probably more people openly carrying firearms at the Council hearing last night that in all of Corvallis…forever.

The supporters of this new intrusion have admitted it is entirely symbolic. They are more concerned with people who want to feel safe than people who want to be safe.

As of now, the Council has chosen not to vote on the ban and has referred it back to the Administrative Services Committee. A referral to the voters is being discussed.

To everyone who showed up or emailed, make no mistake. You are the reason this pointless attack on your rights has not moved forward.  Thank you for your efforts.

Contact info for the entire council is available here.

11.03.14

The anti-rights crowd is resorting to their usual tactics of ginning up hatred and fear.

As you know, tonight will be another hearing on a loaded carry ban by the Corvallis City Council.

In an email to the council, one of the leaders of the anti-rights crowd included these comments:

“I have received a communication regarding the possible disturbances at the meeting when the open gun carriage ordinance will be discussed.”

“We’ve also talked to some city council members and they seem to prefer that we do not come and give the gun bullies a target for their abuse.”

“However, I do respect your council on this matter, being sensitive to your concerns about not making a potentially explosive situation worse”

He also said:  “The council is not planning to vote on the ordinance on Monday night…”

Where he received that information is anyone’s guess.

The people who want to attack your rights are willing to stoop to anything. Thousands of gun owners have stood on the capitol steps with firearms and the one or two anti-gun protesters there were treated with courtesy.

No one was ever threatened. No one was intimidated. The State Police remarked that they had never seen the Capitol left so clean.

Their attempts at ginning up paranoia are disgraceful. We also know they are doubling down on their efforts to get anti-gun messages to the council members.

Please make every effort to be at this hearing tonight when the council convenes at 5.30 PM.

The hearing will be held at the Majestic Theater in Corvallis. Firearms possession is allowed.

Let’s fill that room.

If you cannot come, please contact the council.

Contact info for the entire council is available here.

 And please, if you have not already done so, drop off your ballots today.

10.17.14

On October 21st the “Human Services Committee” of the City of Corvallis will, once again, consider its proposed ban on loaded firearms. This is the same policy you successfully defeated in Ashland.

The Human Service Committee is responsible for social services, recreation, park and open space issues, law code enforcement, and library service issues. Council members serving on the Human Services Committee are Mike Beilstein(Ward 5), Bruce Sorte (Ward 7), Penny York(Ward 1).

Clearly, the committee is considering a solution in search of a problem, but your efforts are certainly having an effect, so keep it up.

A review of the minutes from their last meeting on October 7th shows that both the City Attorney and the Chief of Police have serious reservations about enacting this attack on the rights of the people of Corvallis. (The loaded,open carry issue begins on page 6.)

According to the minutes of the meeting, City Attorney Jim Brewer  “expressed concern about Subsection 4) infringing on 4th and 5th Amendment rights. A person who openly carries a weapon in Oregon is not a person who is committing a crime. The ability for Officers to stop and/or arrest a person after a weapons inspection is problematic. This subsection mirrors language in State law regarding carrying inside public buildings; however, Mr. Brewer is not sure the State language would survive a 4th Amendment review. If an ordinance is adopted, Mr. Brewer and the District Attorney recommend no change in police response. The ordinance does not give law enforcement the authority to stop and question people who are not otherwise reasonably suspected of being involved in criminal activity.” 

Chief Sassaman “said the City cannot legislate a greater authority that does not currently exist. CPD abides by all statutes related to stop/frisk; search/seizure; 1st, 4th, 5th, and  14th Amendments; etc. Officers do not have the ability to stop someone openly carrying a firearm to see if the weapon is loaded.”

In response to a question from one city councilor, the city attorney had to point out that Oregon has no “brandishing” statute.

Your activism is making a difference.  Please keep up the pressure and help us stop this needless assault on your rights

The agenda for the Oct 21’s meeting can be seen here.

10.14.14

Gabby Giffords is coming back to Oregon to spread the gospel of gun control.

Although a date has not been announced, the Associated Press has reported that Giffords “will begin a nine-state tour in Maine, where she will advocate for tougher gun laws that she says will help protect women and families.”

(Giffords is bankrolled by millions from New York billionaire Michael Bloomberg.)

Giffords “will seek to elevate the issue of gun violence against women ” and no doubt will be promoting universal gun registration (“background checks.”)

Among the dead when Giffords was wounded were Chief Judge John Roll and Giffords’ community outreach director Gabe Zimmerman. Both apparently were men.

Of course, as is so often the case, the murderer who killed John Roll, Gabe Zimmerman and a nine year old girl when Giffords was shot, passed a background check. According to the State Police’s own figures, many law-abiding Oregonians cannot.

So while good people have their rights delayed or denied, killers like Gifford’s attacker and the Virginia Tech shooter are approved for gun purchases.

According to AP:

“Among the changes Giffords has sought is to include people with misdemeanor-level stalking crimes among those who are prohibited from buying firearms and to expand background checks to ensure that domestic violence abusers can’t buy firearms at gun shows.”

Of course, persons with domestic violence misdemeanors can’t buy guns at gun shows now, no matter how old, trivial or trumped up their charge was. Remember, for many years people who were arrested for “domestic violence” were encouraged to plead to misdemeanors even when they were innocent, because it would “save them thousands in lawyers fees.” Few knew they were giving up their rights forever.

Oregon law now requires that people be informed they will lose their rights before pleading, but for far too long many innocent people were ensnared by dishonest DA’s and ill-informed police.

People who are subject to “stalking orders” have not been accused of a crime, let alone convicted. And yet Giffords wants to see their rights violated with no due process.  Even now, a person can have their rights eliminated simply because someone else makes an unfounded accusation. Any attempt to refute the accusation, no matter how false, puts the accused in further jeopardy!

But Gifford’s handlers, and she by proxy, are actually waging a war on women and expediting violence against them.

Giffords is using her Bloomberg pay off to endanger the most vulnerable in our society. By pushing an expansion of the failed background check system to include transfers between friends and family members, Giffords is putting a bullseye on the back of every woman who fears for her safety from a real stalker or abuser.

The State Police’s own figures demonstrate that the majority of people who are denied a firearm are denied in error. So while encouraging women to seek “restraining orders” against abusers (which provide exactly zero protection) Giffords is working overtime to assure that women won’t be able to access the one thing that might actually protect them from harm.

The universal background checks Giffords is pushing are gun registration pure and simple. The ballot measure currently being promoted by her sugar daddy Bloomberg and other millionaires in Washington State will make criminals out of thousands of good people. And make no mistake, Oregon is next in line.

We will never compete with their bankrolls, but we have to be prepared to spread the truth in the face of their lies and distortions.

Please consider a donation to our Political Action Committee. You not only help us prepare for the battles that are certainly coming to Oregon, you get a tax credit.

Out of state millions can buy lots of votes. Help send Bloomberg and his billionaire buddies back home.

 A subcommittee of the Corvallis City Council held a hearing on Tuesday to discuss a ban on open loaded carry of firearms.

“Everyone was civil, made their points well and was respectful. One gentleman, a VietNam Vet, the first to testify, was a little worked up at Councilor Beilstein’s Cuban flag plastered on the back of his laptop. There’s a long story to that, but suffice to say, the Vet made a great point. Beilstein has a cuban flag on his computer prominently displayed and NOWHERE in the room was a Flag of the United States. Good on him for noticing that and bringing it up. “

“The (Police )Chief and the (City)attorney seemed to be trying to say in as diplomatic of a way as possible that the ordinance was meaningless. It changes nothing in the way the officers would be able to respond. If no procedural changes, why go forward. They pointed out how sections of the Portland ordinance is lacking in logic as well. “

“The proposal itself is an enactment of what is essentially a cut/paste of the Portland ordinance. First up to speak on it were the Chief of Corvallis PD and the city attorney. They briefly went over the ordnance as proposed and offered the following:

The proposed ordinance would be problematic; the Portland ordinance was used as a template because it is the only one to have survived any scrutiny whatsoever, and that was in a couple of very fact-dependent cases. 

Contact information for the the mayor and city council is available here.

Schedule information and agenda documents are available here.

10.02.14

The endless war on the Second Amendment will have its next battle in Corvallis on Oct. 7th at 2pm.

The City Council is scheduled to hold a hearing on “Open Carry of Firearms.”

Corvallis has already lost one lawsuit against a person who was openly carrying a firearm, but it does not look like they have learned their lesson.

Just to be clear, in most places Corvallis has no legal power to ban “open carry.” What they are trying to do is ban “loaded carry.”

The lessons of Ashland have clearly been lost on this City Council.  Ashland dropped its efforts to ban open, loaded carry when it became a magnet for lawful open carriers. Perhaps Corvallis must be next.

If you can be at this hearing, please show up and express your opposition to this pointless act of theater. If you cannot be there, please contact the City Council and let them know how you feel.

Contact information for the the mayor and city council is available here.

Schedule information and agenda documents are available here.

09.30.14

In a stunning admission that their current background check/ gun buyer harassment scheme is a failure, the Oregon State Police have released statistics proving what we’ve said all along.

As you know, Governor Kitzahaber  has required that every time a firearm’s purchase is denied, at least one State Police officer must leave patrol to “investigate.”  While the OSP’s directive says the investigating officer must be told the reason for the denial, they virtually never are.

Now the OSP has provided details that demonstrate what a staggering waste of time this policy is.

According to an Executive Summary “on the investigations the Oregon State Police (OSP) is conducting regarding denied firearm transactions through the Firearm Instant Check System (FICS) Unit”   of the 331 “denial” investigations only 8 people have been arrested. That’s a total of only 2.41% of the people denied!

And of course, there is no way of  knowing how many of the people taken into custody were arrested for actual offenses and how many were victims of the same sloppy record keeping that kept most of the other 97%  from completing transfers.

Of the 12 people reported to have been denied because of “mental health” we know of at least one  who was clearly denied for false reasons.

Another buyer who was issued a “citation in lieu of custody” was told he had to appear in court and when he inquired about his court date was told everything had been dropped!

Even more surprising was the reported statistic that of the 40 people who were denied because they were “wanted”only 4 were actually arrested!  The State Police describe a person who is “wanted” as having an active felony or misdemeanor warrant.

90% of the people who were denied because they were “wanted” walked out of the gun store. 4 people who were denied because they were “wanted” are listed in the category of “Investigation Complete-No Action.” The State Police list this as “Trooper finished investigation and determined extraneous circumstances did not warrant an arrest,citation or any other action.”

Of the 331 denials 40 were because the OSP determined that the gun they were trying to buy was stolen. That hardly makes the buyer a dangerous person.

The anti-gun crowd is eager to report the number of firearms purchase denials as evidence that the failed background check system is a great success. But three factors make this claim absurd.

First, as is clearly demonstrated by the numbers provided by the OSP, the vast majority of people who are denied have not been proven to have done anything wrong.

Second, assuming that the OSP’s numbers are accurate, (which we can’t) only a tiny fraction of the people who are denied are arrested,  meaning that if they truly are dangerous and should not have firearms, they are still free to walk the streets. So pretending that a denial has any effect on crime is, on it’s face, ridiculous.

Third, in virtually every case of a mass shooting, a mandatory background check would have had no effect. The shooters either PASSED the check or would never have been subject to one because, for example, they stole the guns used.

Keep in mind that we have faced an ongoing  effort to expand this failed system to transfers made between friends and family members. In the last few weeks the Firearms Instant Check System  has had massive delays with dealers facing waiting times for what transfers do take place  at 350% or more over normal waits. In some cases the FICS system is simply not working at all.

Washington voters are now facing a ballot measure that will expand this failed system to private transfers. Nevada is following their lead.  We will almost certainly face a similar measure here. Make no mistake, background checks are gun registration schemes. Efforts to expand them are being funded by billionaires with armed guards.

The battle is coming.

Get ready.