Category: OFF Alerts

One More Pro-Gun Bill Moves Out Of Committee

House Bill 2797,  a bill we requested to clean up and clarify Oregon’s laws dealing with carrying handguns on motorcycles, ATV’s and snowmobiles, passed unanimously out of the House Judiciary Committee today.This is a positive development. There were minor amendments that have not yet been reflected on the legislative website, but they do not hurt this bill.

It is hard to imagine anyone having an objection to this simple, commonsense legislation. (But never assume anything.)  Its next stop will be the full House.

Please consider contacting your House Rep and reminding them that all HB 2797 does is clarify outdated and contradictory language in current law.

Interestingly, one committee member, Chris Garrett, offered to carry the bill on the House floor, because he was a “strong supporter of 2nd Amendment rights.” That’s more than a little ironic since he has already voted “NO” on two important pro-gun bills this session.

Tomorrow, the full House is scheduled to vote on HB 2787, the CHL privacy bill and the Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to hold a “work session” on a CHL privacy bill of their own. We are expecting amendments on the Senate bill, but of course, we have seen nothing yet.

We have been informed that there is the possibility of some House Republicans defecting and voting AGAINST CHL privacy tomorrow for no discernable reason, so we strongly urge you to consider sending one last email to your own rep asking for a “Yes” vote on HB 2787. This should not be a controversial bill, but politics is strange and you can’t be too careful.

By the way, please consider a “thank you” to House Rep Kim Thatcher, who has been a tireless fighter for gun rights and is the chief sponsor of every pro-gun bill that has moved so far. A word of encouragement for her staff is also in order. They work very long hours to protect our rights.

On Monday, the full House is scheduled to vote on HB 2792, a bill to recognize other states’ CHL’s.  While it’s always dangerous to make predictions, we think it’s safe to say there will be a fair amount of resistance to this bill. Let’s let them know we want it passed so we can get the benefits it would provide Oregonians (more states will recognize OUR permits) and we want to be a place that welcomes law abiding visitors.

On another note, the House is scheduled to take up a resolution to make the “Code of the West” the official conduct of Oregon. We think if the Oregon legislature actually acted this way, we would all be better off.

On a national note, lock and load, it’s very likely that some hard times may be coming down via the current administration which seeks to curtail your gun rights while helping to funnel guns to Mexican crime gangs.

Supernatural Hypocrisy

Obama’s claims we must do more to keep guns from falling into the hands of criminals while he works overtime  to put guns in the hands of criminals.

Frightening and demented.

March 2011. Time To Retire The Oregon State Police?

We have received a number of communications from gun dealers across the state informing us of long waits and busy signals when they attempt to conduct background checks for gun purchases.

While some dealers are reporting no changes, others have let us know that the difficulty in contacting Oregon State Police has had a serious effect on their ability to conduct business.

We are also receiving an increase in complaints about unjustified delays for gun purchases and a lack of response by the OSP when buyers use their “Challenge Line” in an effort to resolve delays. This was a common problem in the past and had largely gone away.

This all comes at a time when the OSP has requested significant increases in their fees.

If you are a dealer, or someone who has had difficulty making a purchase, you may download and distribute our Background Check Fact Sheet, which has info on pending bills that deal with these issues along with important and helpful contact info for legislators and OSP officials.

We have also received multiple, credible reports that Oregon dealers are being pressured by ATF to make highly irregular and suspicious gun sales. It would appear to be Oregon’s very own  “Gunwalker” scandal.

The Oregon State Police are aware of these operations and have chosen to take a “hands off” approach.

If you are a dealer who has been pressured by ATF or the OSP into making transactions you consider suspicious, and are willing to share your experiences, please contact us. Rest assured your privacy will be protected.

GUN BILLS IN MOTION. WHAT YOU NEED TO DO.

Three pro-gun bills saw action yesterday. We need your help to assure that they continue to move through the process.

All three were in the House Judiciary Committee. Two bills were the subject of a “work session” meaning they were voted on in committee (and possibly amended) and one received a public hearing where testimony was taken.

The two bills which were passed out of committee to the full House floor were HB 2787 and HB 2792.

HB 2787 is the House version of a bill that protects the privacy of concealed handgun license holders. A similar bill has been heard in the Senate and is scheduled to receive a work session on March 14th.

This common sense legislation is the work of House Rep Kim Thatcher, at our request, and is a long overdue recognition that the personal information of CHL holders should not be available to newspapers or people running marketing campaigns.

In 2009, this bill was shot down through the actions of House Rep Judy Stiegler of Bend. Oddly, during the work session on this bill, Stiegler was lurking in the audience.

The reason this was odd is, because of the actions of gun owners, Steigler was “retired” from public office in the last election. She has now returned to “private practice” and is not a legislator.

Any reasonable observer would have concluded that Steigler’s presence should have served as a reminder to other legislators that making a career out of gun control is not a good way to get re-elected outside of the most knee-jerk, liberal districts in this state. But, three members of the committee chose anti-gun zealotry over experience and voted to keep your private information available to any vulture who wanted it.  They were Chris Garrett, Mary Nolan and Carolyn Tomei.

Fortunately, the committee has enough members who recognize how foolish and dangerous handing out private info to anyone is, and the bill passed out of committee.

HB 2792 recognizes other states’ handgun permits which will help Oregonians by having our permits accepted in more states. This would bring Oregon in line with most states which accept many permits. Oregon accepts only Oregon permits and does not even allow non-residents to apply for one unless they live in an adjoining state.

Once again, Garrett, Nolan and Tomei voted “NO” for gun rights, but were overruled by the majority of the committee and the bill passed out to the floor.

There was an amendment added to 2792, and while it did not hurt the bill, it did demonstrate how far we are from a “transparent” process.

At  “work sessions” public testimony is typically NOT taken. That usually has already happened at the hearing. But at work sessions, amendments can be adopted that the public does not get to see until after they have been approved and made part of the bill. In this case, even the people in the room, including the bill’s sponsor, Kim Thatcher, had no idea what was in the amendments that were approved until after the bill was voted to the floor. While the amendments in question do not appear to be a problem, it is an indication of something very wrong with the system. Your CHL info is public, but changes made to proposed legislation are secret.

Finally, a public hearing was held on HB 2797. This bill defines a lawful way to transport a handgun on a motorcycle and clarifies language dealing with firearms on ATV’s and snowmobiles. We thank our friends from the motorcycle community for showing up to support this bill. It is scheduled to be in work session on March 16h.

We now need to take action on the two bills that moved out of committee. Please contact your own rep and ask them to support HB 2792 and HB 2787 when they are heard on the House Floor. If you don’t  know who your House Rep is, you can find them here. They will be the LAST person listed.  You can send a message to your rep even if you don’t know who they are here.

Remember, for this bill you want to contact your Oregon House Rep. We will deal with Senators later.

A sample message follows.

__________________________________________________________________

Dear Representative,

The House Judiciary Committee has passed out two bills to protect the rights of gun owners.

They are HB 2787 and HB 2792.

2787 protects sensitive private information about concealed handgun license holders and 2792 expands Oregonian’s rights by recognizing the handgun permits of  other states. I urge you to support both bills.

Yours,

____________________

___________________________________________________________________

What follows is an important alert for anyone who has, or plans to get, a concealed handgun license. We ask that you take action on this bill as soon as possible. We also ask that you take a moment to see this update on the ATF’s complicity in trafficking guns to criminal gangs. We have good reason to believe this is going on right here in Oregon.

BREAKING NEWS: AS PREDICTED, OREGONIAN BECOMES PROPAGANDA ARM OF BATFE.

As you know, a bill to protect the private information of concealed handgun license holders has received a hearing in the Oregon House and is scheduled to be acted on on March 8th.

A companion bill in the Senate is scheduled for a hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee on March 7th.

The two bills are the same and we are hoping for a favorable outcome in both Houses.

Please contact the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee and request that they pass SB 582 out of committee.

It is very important that the bill pass with no poison pill amendments that will render it useless as happened in 2009.

If you are a CHL holder and would like to testify on the bill, the hearing is scheduled for 8.30 am in room 343 at the Capitol. As always, schedules can change, so consider contacting the committee before traveling long distances. A sample message follows.

____________________________________________________

Dear Senator,

SB 582 is important and much needed legislation to protect the privacy of concealed handgun license holders.

The information on concealed handgun license applications is not a record of “government activity” which should be shared with the public. It is private and sensitive information which should only be shared for legitimate law enforcement purposes. These lists have already been used by some for direct mail fundraising campaigns. I urge you to protect the privacy of your constituents and vote in favor of SB 582 with no amendments that will undermine its effectiveness.

Yours,
_________________________

___________________________________________________________

This legislative session has seen a large number of firearms-related bills, both good and bad. But it’s no trick to get bills introduced; the typical session may see 4000 of them. The real challenge is to get any of them to go anywhere.

As of now several bills are scheduled for action in their house of origin, in this case the Oregon House. Keep in mind, this is just one of many steps on the long road to a bill becoming a law.

Three gun bills are scheduled for action on March 8th in the House Judiciary Committee. Two of those bills, HB 2792 and HB 2787, have already received hearings and are scheduled for “work sessions” where bills are amended and adopted. A third bill will receive its first public hearing. That is HB 2797.

To recap, HB 2792 recognizes other states’ concealed handgun licenses.

HB 2787 protects the privacy of concealed handgun license holders.

HB 2797 addresses the problem with Oregon law that forbids anyone to carry a loaded firearm on a snowmobile or ATV (but does not even define what “loaded” means) and also corrects the flaw in Oregon Statute that allows no practical, legal way to transport a handgun on a motorcycle unless the rider has a CHL. This is one of several bills dealing with carry on ATVs but the only one that deals with the motorcycle problem.  OFF requested this bill after a Senate bill in 2009 inadvertently dropped the motorcycle language. We ask that you contact the committee and request that they support all three bills.

Also scheduled for that meeting is HB 3100, a bill which modifies the jurisdiction of the “Psychiatric Security Review Board.”  While this is not a “gun bill”, we are paying close attention to this body since now, thanks to the NRA, it has a lot of control over gun owners and it has shown no interest in protecting gun owners’ rights.

There is a strong likelihood that the three gun bills will pass out of committee, although HB 2797 will not likely be acted on on the 8th. But anything can happen and there is always the potential for damaging amendments or other problems. So we are asking that you contact the committee urging support for all three bills.

That being said it is important to note that committee schedules can change at any time, right up until the very last minute. If you plan to attend the hearing, make sure you double-check that there have been no scheduling changes.

It’s safe to say that the two members of the Judiciary Committee least likely to support gun rights are Carolyn Tomei and Mary Nolan.  But, if the committee does pass any or all of these bills, the measures will then have to pass the full House. If we prevail there, the whole process starts again in the Senate Judiciary Committee whose Chairman, Floyd Prozanski, is not at all friendly to gun rights. We fully expect a battle to get any of these bills heard in his committee.

While we are making progress, we still have a lot of work to do. There are other bills in the House that have NOT been scheduled for a hearing and they only will be if you let the co-chairs of House Judiciary know they are important. These bills should not be seen as controversial, but they could easily become bargaining chips if we don’t make our voices heard. A brief review of them follows:

HB 2791  Removes Department of State Police as designated state point of contact for purposes of National Instant Criminal Background Check System. 

There is a companion bill for this in the Senate, SB 934.

Recently, the OSP has greatly increased the time it takes to conduct a standard background check with dealers often waiting over an hour to get through to the ID unit. You can imagine the strain this puts on business and it’s even worse at gun shows.  Furthermore, a problem we thought we had solved in the past has come back with a vengeance. The incidence of complaints about unjustified delays on approvals has shot back up after having come down significantly. That’s why we want the State Police out of the background check business. That and their stated intention to TRIPLE their fees.  (Slow downs, price increases…coincidence? You decide.)

HB 2793  Modifies definition of public place for purpose of certain city or county ordinances related to possession of loaded firearms.

In 2008 the Oregon Appeals Court turned our “preemption statue” on its ear by concluding that your car must be treated like a “public place.” Thus all the protections gun owners thought they had while traveling from place to place were gone and you could easily find yourself breaking some local code or rule because you drove into a locality with its own gun restrictions. Localities may only restrict guns in “public places” but who thinks their car is one? This important bill would reverse this problem and once again protect traveling gun owners.

HB 2789  Authorizes issuance of concealed handgun license to person convicted or diverted for certain marijuana offenses in another jurisdiction if conviction or diversion is equivalent to conviction or diversion that does not operate as bar to obtaining license under Oregon law.

Oregon law allows a person with ONE conviction or ONE diversion for a small amount of marijuana to apply for a concealed handgun license. But, that conviction or diversion MUST have been in Oregon and MUST have been AFTER 1973. So a person with a minor out-of-state conviction or someone whose incident was almost 40 years old is locked out. We think this is an oversight and not fair. HB 2789 would correct that problem.

There are numerous other gun-related bills in the hopper, but we think these should generate the least controversy and should not be held hostage to the process. But they will only move forward with your help.

We’ve included two sample messages below. One is to the entire House Judiciary Committee asking for speedy action, on the bills being dealt with on March 8th. The second is to the Committee Chairs, asking for hearings on the three important bills described above. Please feel free to modify them to suit your style, and thanks for your continued activism.
__________________________________________________________

Dear Representative,

Your committee will soon be dealing with House Bills 2787, 2792 and 2797. These bills safeguard the rights of law-abiding firearms owners.

They are commonsense bills that deserve your vote. I urge quick passage and your support for them on the House floor.

Thank you,

__________________________

____________________________________________________________

Co-Chair Jeff Barker  rep.jeffbarker@state.or.us
Co-Chair Wayne Krieger  rep.waynekrieger@state.or.us

Dear Mr. Co-Chair.

Thank you for your continued advocacy for gun owners in Oregon. I request that you consider hearings on House Bills 2791, 2793 and 2789. These bills are not controversial and will further protect the rights of firearms owners in the state.

Thank you for your consideration

______________________

_____________________________________________________________

CBS News has produced a segment on the outrageous and deadly actions of the BATFE who have been expediting the transfer of thousands of firearms to Mexican drug cartels.

Those weapons are now being used against US Agents on the border. (More from Gun Owners of America here.)

While we welcome any attention from the establishment media, we think it’s essential that gun owners know who did the work that led to this story finally seeing the light of day.

It’s been a long time coming, but the tireless and courageous efforts of Mike Vanderboegh of Sipsey Street Irregulars and our friend David Codrea of Gun Rights Examiner are behind this story finally getting some mainstream airtime.

Needless to say, the ATF will use whatever means and methods available to them to cover up the truth and intimidate the whistle blowers. But thanks to David and Mike, the truth is out there.

As expected, if a bit later than expected, the Oregon legislature (well some Oregon legislators who don’t want their names used) have introduced or drafted new anti-rights bills.

If you recall, in 2009, we passed SB 603 which not only defined the term “readily accessible” for the purposes of having a handgun in your car, but also corrected the weird anomaly in Oregon law that allowed a person with a felony conviction to petition to have his rights restored to BUY a gun but was still forbidden from OWNING it.

That bill passed both houses without a single “no” vote (actually passing the Senate twice) and was signed into law by the Governor.  During the 2010 “special” session, the person responsible for SB 603, Senator Floyd Prozanski, decided he’d made a terrible mistake and tried to reverse it. Your activism prevented that from happening. But he promised to be back, and now he is with SB 762.

762 will forbid anyone from seeking firearms rights restoration for 10 years after conviction or completion of sentence, whichever is later. Since 603 passed, some persons with felony convictions have successfully gotten their rights restored, and some have not, proving the new law was working. We have heard of no cases where a person got his rights restored and then committed a crime with a gun. And when you think about it, why would someone with criminal intent go to a court and ask to legally be able to own guns?  We will keep you posted on this bill’s progress.

There are two other new  pieces of anti-gun legislation that only exist as drafts at this point. They will, no doubt, be in bill form shortly.

The are LC 1668 and LC 3368.

1668 is one more attempt at a “lock up your self defense” law.

3368 outlaws the “transfer for consideration” of “large capacity” magazines. Presumably you can still give them away. And of course, the ban would not apply to police. While neither of these drafts have anyone’s name attached to them, we’re willing to go way out on a limb and guess who’s behind them.

We are still working to get hearings on several bills we consider important this session including HB 2789, HB 2791, HB 2793 and HB 2797.

Your continued efforts to get hearings on these bills is greatly appreciated.

 

On Friday, February 18th, the House Judiciary Committee is scheduled to hear HB 2999.

The bill “Authorizes persons engaged in lawful activity to stand ground and use force in self-defense”.

Obviously this is an important piece of legislation and deserves your support. You may contact the House Judiciary Committee members with messages of support.

Please keep in mind, if you plan to attend the hearing, that committee schedules can change at the last minute. It’s always a good idea to check the schedule before you come to the hearing.  You can see committee schedules here.

On the same day another bill is scheduled.  That bill is HB 3100. This bill  “Modifies jurisdiction of Psychiatric Security Review Board”.

While this may not seem like a bill that gun owners should be concerned about, or even watching, we plan to keep a close eye on it.  In 2009, the legislature passed, against our protests, HB 2853.

You can read our alerts about this bill in our alerts archived here.

You can see how the 2009 Oregon House voted here.

We call your attention especially to this alert.

In it we warned  “We are quite sure that this bill, which will put us into compliance with the Federal Bill HR 2640, will cause more people to be denied legitimate firearms transfers. More people will face the inconvenience and burden of trying to prove that they are allowed to exercise a “right.” Some of those people will now be forced to ask for relief from the “psychiatric review board.”

Unfortunately we were 100% right.  The “psychiatric review board.” has now ensnared, as we predicted, Oregonians who are entirely qualified to purchase guns. They have created a byzantine system that all but assures no one who petitions them will have the resources to have their rights returned and put  people who should never have been under their jurisdiction through hell. As such, we plan to pay careful attention to any bill that deals with the powers of this agency.

As of now, we have been unable to impress upon the people who passed this bill, the mess they have created. But we will continue to work on it. You could easily find yourself in this nightmare.

Stay tuned. We hope that our efforts will convince the supporters of this ghastly legislation to work to correct their mistakes. If not, we will count on your efforts to help them  “see the light.”

The House Judiciary Committee has scheduled three more pro-gun bills to be heard Feb 16 at 1 p.m.  Those bills are listed and linked below.

These are public hearings so you are welcome and invited to give testimony, but we would urge you to contact the Judiciary Committee members even if you cannot attend.

Sample cut and paste message at the bottom of this alert. Please feel free to alter it.

HB 3001 FIRST PUBLIC HEARING – Requires Department of State Police to destroy records obtained during criminal records checks within 24 hours of approving certain transfers of firearms.

REMOVED FROM SCHEDULE.

HB 3002 FIRST PUBLIC HEARING – Provides nonresidents who are licensed to carry concealed handgun in another state with protections provided to persons with Oregon concealed handgun license if other state used National Instant Criminal Background Check System prior to issuing person’s handgun license.

We support expanding our recognition to all states. This bill is not as strong as HB 2792, due to be heard on Feb 9, but could be a step in the right direction.

HB 2506 FIRST PUBLIC HEARING – Allows person holding concealed handgun license to operate all-terrain vehicle while carrying loaded handgun.

This bill is a less complete version of HB 2797 which would also fix the current error in Oregon law which does not allow for lawful transport of handguns on motorcycles for those who do not have CHL’s. It also does not address loaded carry on ATV’s and snowmobiles for those without CHL’s. Not a bad bill, but not as effective as HB 2797 which we prefer.

_____________________________________________________________________

Dear Representative,

Oregon Firearms Federation informs me that your committee will be holding hearings on several firearms-related bills on Feb 16. Thank you for considering this important legislation.

HB 3002 would expand our recognition of other states’ concealed handgun licenses. This is an important step forward and would actually benefit Oregon license holders. However, I believe HB 2792, which you will be hearing on Feb 9, does a better and more complete job of achieving this worthwhile goal.

HB 2506 allows persons with concealed handgun licenses to ride ATV’s and snowmobiles with a loaded handgun. While I strongly support this improvement, it does not address the fact that persons without CHL’s are still forbidden from having a loaded firearm on a snowmobile or an ATV even if there is no round in the chamber and there is no chance for an accidental discharge.

I would like to point out that current law does not even make an exception to the “no loaded guns on ATV’s” rule for on-duty police officers. I would urge you to consider HB 2797, which addresses loaded carry on ATV’s and snowmobiles AND corrects the current law, which allows for no lawful way to carry a handgun on a motorcycle if you do not have a CHL.

Thank you,
___________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

IT’S SHOWTIME

The first of what may be many hearings on gun related bills has been scheduled.

The following bills have been scheduled to be heard in the House Judiciary Committee on February 9th at 1PM.

These are PUBLIC hearings. If you feel strongly about any of these bills, please come and testify. The bills will be heard in room 343. (Committee schedules are subject to change. You can get the latest schedules here.)

HB 2080 FIRST PUBLIC HEARING – Requires that certain court orders indicate that person subject to order is barred from possessing, receiving, shipping or transporting firearm or firearm ammunition.

Frankly we don’t know just where they are going with this bill, but we will certainly be there watching it.

THIS BILL HAS BEEN REMOVED FROM THE SCHEDULE.

HB 2415 FIRST PUBLIC HEARING – Directs Department of State Police to adopt rules identifying states that allow holder of Oregon concealed handgun license to carry concealed handgun and have substantially similar eligibility requirements.

This bill allows the state police to recognize other states’ licenses if they, the State Police, consider the other states’ license “worthy.”  While we can always hope, this is an idea that has failed spectacularly in the past. Let’s just recognize everyone. (As in HB 2792 below.)

HB 2787 FIRST PUBLIC HEARING – Prohibits public body from releasing information that identifies holder of or applicant for concealed handgun license.

Simple, straightforward and long overdue, this bill, shot down by extremist Democrats in 2009, would protect license holders from the snooping eyes of anti-gun organizations and agenda-driven media outlets like the Medford Mail Tribune. The Sheriff’s Association actually requested that this bill be listed as “at their request.”  Clearly we are making progress.

HB 2792 FIRST PUBLIC HEARING – Provides nonresidents who are authorized to carry concealed handgun in another state with protections provided to persons with Oregon concealed handgun license.

Commonsense legislation that was torpedoed in 2009 by Democrat Judy Steigler. She has now been returned to private practice thanks to gun owners in Bend. This is a great bill, we encourage your support.

Whether or not you can attend the hearing, we ask that you contact the House Judiciary Committee expressing your support for HB 2787 and 2792.

Contact info and a sample cut and paste message follow. Please feel free to modify it.
_____________________________________________________________________________

Dear Representative,

Your Judiciary Committee is scheduled to hear two important bills on February 9th. I am writing to urge your support for House Bills 2787 and 2792.

HB 2787 is long overdue legislation to protect the privacy of concealed handgun license holders. There is no reason this information should be public. These are not records of government activity. This is private information of people who were compelled by law to disclose it in order to exercise a “right.”  This information should no more be public than income tax returns.

HB 2792 simply recognizes concealed handgun licenses from other states, much as we recognize driver’s licences. In 2009, the Oregon Sheriffs came out in strong support of this concept.  I urge you to pass both these bills through your committee.

Yours,

______________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

Contact Info for House Judiciary Committee Members

Jeff Barker, Co-Chair  rep.jeffbarker@state.or.us

Wayne Krieger, Co-Chair  rep.waynekrieger@state.or.us

Chris Garrett, Co-Vice Chair  rep.chrisgarrett@state.or.us

Wally Hicks, Co-Vice Chair  rep.wallyhicks@state.or.us

Mary Nolan  rep.marynolan@state.or.us

Andy Olson  rep.andyolson@state.or.us

Mike Schaufler rep.mikeschaufler@state.or.us

Carolyn Tomei  rep.carolyntomei@state.or.us

Matt Wand rep.mattwand@state.or.us

Gene Whisnant    rep.genewhisnant@state.or.us

The most pro-gun sheriff in Oregon could use a little help. As we reported previously. Sheriff Glenn Palmer of Grant County is eager to issue non resident permits to qualified applicants. The Sheriff has even traveled out of state to take applications.

Palmer would like to purchase a digital fingerprint scanner to simplify the process at his office and on the road. Because of the usual bureaucratic nonsense, it appears that the best way to do this is to have our Foundation purchase it for him.

We have received many donations from individuals and the Oregon Firearms Educational Foundation has donated $1000.00.  We still need to raise a bit more to get to the total purchase price (around $12,000.)  If you want to contribute with a tax deductible donation, use this link and be sure to note that your donation is to OFEF and for the Sheriff’s fingerprint scanner.

“Republican ” Gun Control On the Horizon?

In spite of the hand wringing from the freedom haters in the gun ban movement, it would be a mistake to assume that more gun control on a national level is a dead issue.

Numerous sources are reporting that  Obama will “address the issue” of tightening gun control laws, almost certainly by ratcheting up already failed laws like the Brady Bill and the NRA endorsed “NICS Improvement Act. “ No doubt magazine bans and a re-introduction of the semi-auto ban will be in the mix.

There is reason to believe  that the Republicans may be on board.

The “improvements” in the NICS Improvement  Act appear to be, as we predicted, more denials and delays for qualified gun owners and no increased obstacles for nut-cases like the shooter in Tucson.

Here in Oregon, as a result of HB 2853, a bill which forced us into compliance with the ill-conceived NRA/Brady Bill supported  HR 2640, we are already seeing the predicted failure of the bill and faulty records are costing people their rights and more.

Oregon has 7 members of Congress. Two Senators and 5 House Members. It’s safe to say that 6 of them (including NRA endorsed Kurt Schrader) will support any demented scheme Obama proposes. With our own legislature returning on Feb. 1st we expect to see a plenty of anti-gun legislation introduced. It is still our intention to play offense, but it’s essential that you be prepared to respond immediately to any threat. We’ll keep you informed.

As we told you one January 11th, the Oregon State Police held a public hearing on an administrative rule change.

Basically, what this change would do, if enacted, would require police departments to get a court order before getting access to information about lawful firearms purchases.

For those who are familiar with the outrages perpetrated against David Pyles, the need for this change is obvious.

At the hearing today, four people testified to put information on the record; one Salem cop, one Portland cop, one member of Oregon Firearms Federation and OFF’s Director, Kevin Starrett.

Both police officers opposed the rule change because they wanted to have access to the gun purchase records without requiring a court’s permission.

OFF’s Director  went on record supporting the change in rules, which we believe were the result of a demand by the Attorney General in the wake of the David Pyles’ debacle. We know David submitted testimony as well by mail.

The individual who was responsible for running the hearing would not allow questions and would not provide clarifications of the rule.

No other “pro-gun” organizations were present.

A saga that started almost two years ago is about to come to some kind of resolution.

As many of you know, in January of 2009, Marine Corp Veteran Jeffery Maxwell was arrested on the campus of Western Oregon University and charged with possession of a firearm in a public building.

Jeffery contacted OFF and with the intercession of our legal counsel, the DA dropped the charges, claiming it was “in the interest of justice.”  In fact, it was in the interest of the law, since the DA had no case. As a CHL holder, Jeffery was exempt from the prohibition on possession in public buildings.

While the charges were dropped, the school  suspended Jeffery and otherwise made his life a living hell.

The Oregon Firearms Educational Foundation filed a lawsuit against the Oregon University System to challenge their policy of forbidding ANYONE to have a firearm on their campuses. After endless delays, a date has been set for the Oregon Appeals Court to hear our lawsuit.

The case will be heard on March 29th at 9 AM at Salem Courthouse, 1163 State Street, Salem, Oregon 97301-2563.

We thank everyone who has generously uted to the case. If you would like to make a tax deductible ution to the Oregon Firearms Educational Foundation so that we can continue to defend gun owners, you can do so safely online here.

Be sure to choose “Oregon Firearms Educational Foundation” from the drop-down menu to ensure that you receive the proper receipt for your tax deduction.

If you prefer to donate by check you can ute to OFEF at PO Box 556, Canby OR, 97013.