Category: OFF Alerts

Changes Coming To Background Checks

In the wake of the shootings in Arizona and the inevitable efforts by the vultures to capitalize on the victims, things have been busy in the world of gun rights. Buckle up, this is going to be an uncomfortable ride.  That being said we do want to pass along some potential good news.

The Oregon State Police are holding public hearings and taking public comment on an administrative rule change they are considering.

In the wake of the massive debacle that took place after they revealed (against their own rules) the lawful purchase of firearms by David Pyles, the OSP ID unit  is attempting to institute a new rule to prohibit the sharing of any of their background check data with police departments unless the police have a court order.

None of this will undo the damage that was done to David, but if enacted it will be a step forward.

We have also been informed that the State Police will now start destroying most records after 10 days instead of 5 years.  We have no way of knowing if they will actually follow through, but this appears to be a move they made voluntarily.

If you are interested in making your feelings known about the rule change to protect transfer information, you can learn more here. (If you are having trouble reading the PDF, the address for the public hearing is 4190 Aumsville HWY SE Room, Hall of Heros Salem 97317 Jan. 25th 10 am.)

The proposed rule change itself is here.

It’s the time for giving and once again gun owners across the state are receiving requests for cash from an organization that claims to support gun rights, while working overtime for gun control.

Oregonians who have concealed handgun licenses are getting this letter from “Oregon Gun Owners Political Action Committee”
A Holiday Warning.

In 1999 “Oregon Gun Owners” worked with former legislator, and perennial candidate, Kevin Mannix, to forge legislation that would outlaw private transfers of firearms at gun shows. They failed. They then attempted a ballot measure to do the same thing. They failed again. (Their sister-in-arms, Ginny Burdick, armed with millions in out-of-state money succeeded.)

Now “Oregon Gun Owners” is asking real Oregon gun owners to send them cash. What do they do with it? Well in 2010 alone the sent over $8000.00 to anti-gun politicians in Salem. They endorsed Floyd Prozanski and Peter Courtney, two of the most anti-gun politicians in the state, and they sent their lobbyist, Paul Phillips to testify in FAVOR of more gun control in the February “special” session.

Their letter says that the cost of printing their fundraising letter was paid for “by another gun rights organization.”   Oddly they don’t say who that was. We think it’s most likely that the other “gun rights” organization was… Oregon Gun Owners.

At this special time of year, when money is tight and scams are uptrending, we at OFF think it’s important to know who you are giving to.

Have a merry and scam-free Christmas.

PORTLAND ENACTS NEW RULES TO STOP “GUN MURDERS”

It was actually almost comical. Sam Adams, Portland’s disgraced and deceitful Mayor, along with the rest of the Portland City Council, voted today to enact new ordinances to deal with the fact that Portland’s gang members shoot each other.

Council member Nick Fish commented that the new regulations would not solve the problem, and then voted for them. The new ordinances can be viewed here.

They create a new crime of allowing a minor to have access to a firearm  (unless you give him permission) and a new crime of failing to report a stolen gun, with a $200 fee if you cannot provide the serial number. (Unless you “don’t know” the gun is missing.)

Needless to say, these measures are pointless political posturing by a mayor who has no idea how to deal with threats to the city he runs.

Adams said that the problem is that African American men were  “being murdered by guns” never acknowledging that, in fact, African American men are being killed, in large part, by African American men.

Proving that Adams has only the most distant connection with reality, he promoted his stolen- gun-reporting law by using Washington DC as an example of a place where few handguns are “illegally exported.”  This is, according to Adams, because D.C. has a mandatory stolen gun reporting requirement.  The fact that it is almost impossible to steal a lawfully owned gun in a city that does not allow anyone to HAVE a lawfully owned gun never seems to have dawned on the mayor, who also had no idea that someone was planning to detonate a truck full of explosives in the city’s “living room.” Sam also made no mention of Washington’s astronomical murder rate.

Video of the Council meeting will be posted here.

News story here.

 

Portland Hears New Gun Ordinances.

Last night, Portland held a hearing on Mayor Sam Adams’s proposed ordinances to fight “gun violence.” No vote was held but one is scheduled for December 1st. Video available here.

The proposal includes new curfews for juveniles who have been convicted of  “gun related” offenses and are still on parole, and the designating of “hotspots” where persons convicted of “gun-related” crimes may not go while they are on parole or probation. Adams said the “hotspots” had been the center of gun violence for 2 decades but failed to explain why the city just didn’t send more cops there.

The usual cast of characters were on hand including Ginny Burdick, who told the panel that most gun owners “agreed with her” and that in spite of all that love,through her long battle she had received many death threats. Sam Adams thanked her for her years of service and noted that by introducing these ordinances, he was “standing on her shoulders.” If that’s not a weird enough mental image for you, he also thanked Multnomah County Commissioner Judy Shiprack for “mentoring” him. Given Sam’s definition of “mentoring” we really don’t want to go there. Shiprack testified that the County would be looking at similar proposals in January.

Former House member and anti-gun extremist Joanne Bowman testified that she was fine with the gun restrictions but opposed exclusionary zones because they would mostly affect young black men. She testified that since the new ordinance was targeted at only 20 to 30 people the city should just get them all together for a “community meeting.”  As relieved as we are that she no longer has a vote in Salem, we do kind of miss the comic relief.

The new ordinances also impose a more stringent curfew on minors convicted of “gun crimes” but make exceptions for “church activities.” Council member Amanda Fritz  was quick to clarify that this definition would include “mosques.”  That actually made sense except that she also wanted to make sure it included synagogues, apparently so that the many Jewish gang bangers in Portland would not be inconvenienced. (Some of those bar mitzvahs have gotten out of hand.) Fitz also wanted to know if guns had serial numbers.

An exchange near the end of the hearing demonstrated that no one there had a clue what the laws are concerning open carry.

The city presented some interesting statistics. They said that while “persons of color” made up 25% of the city’s population, they were over 50% of the victims of homicide. At no time was any mention made of the race of the perpetrators of these homicides. The Portland Mercury quotes Adams as saying “People being murdered by guns are Portlanders of color.”  People are being murdered by guns?  Not other people, guns? They’re self-animated now? The Mayor did not mention what color the guns who were murdering people were.

The city also stated of the homicides from 2007 to 2010, firearms were used in 42%. That leaves 58% of killings totally unaffected by Adam’s proposals.

There are two provisions of special interest to gun owners.

The first is a new offense if a gun owner does not keep his firearms locked up.  If a child gains access to a firearm, the gun owner faces 10 days in jail and a $500.00 fine. If a child gains access to a firearm and leaves the premises, the punishment is 20 days in jail and a fine of $750.00. If the child gains access and takes the gun to a school or school related event, the gun owner faces 30 days and a $2500.00 fine.

The exceptions are if the “child” broke into your home or your guns were locked up or you had a trigger lock on your gun. The ordinance also states that it does not apply if you gave your child “permission” to have the gun. This is an interesting exception. Both sections 1 and 2 of the lock up ordinance state that the “child” had to gain access without your permission. Section 1 describes a “child” gaining access to a firearm, and section 2 describes a “child” getting access and leaving the premises. So, if you are a gun owner with a young gang banger residing with you, and you decide to leave your guns lying around and your micro-thug takes one down to the local gang recreational area, you have not committed an offense if you gave him permission.(Makes sense to us.)

Oregon’s state preemption law addresses this pretty clearly:

166.170 State preemption. (1) Except as expressly authorized by state statute, the authority to regulate in any matter whatsoever the sale, acquisition, transfer, ownership, possession, storage, transportation or use of firearms or any element relating to firearms and components thereof, including ammunition, is vested solely in the Legislative Assembly.
(2) Except as expressly authorized by state statute, no county, city or other municipal corporation or district may enact civil or criminal ordinances, including but not limited to zoning ordinances, to regulate, restrict or prohibit the sale, acquisition, transfer, ownership, possession, storage, transportation or use of firearms or any element relating to firearms and components thereof, including ammunition. Ordinances that are contrary to this subsection are void. [1995 s.s. c.1 §1]

Emphasis added.

So how can Portland regulate the storage of firearms?  Well according to their lawyer, David Woboril, they were not regulating “storage”, they were regulating “access management.”

The second new ordinance of interest to gun owners is a proposal to make it a crime if you fail to report a lost or stolen gun. If you fail to provide a serial number for the stolen gun, the city will charge you $200.00 as an “administration fee.” You’re robbed once by a burglar and once by the city. No word on what they are administering.

We’re still trying to determine what legitimate gun owner would NOT report a stolen gun. But oddly, there is a built in defense if you simply say you didn’t know it was missing. (OK, we get it.)

The ordinance states that this provision “enables police to respond more rapidly to a report that a gun was stolen and possibly return it to its owners or track down the thieves.” (Which means the police can respond more quickly to a report of a stolen gun, if there is a report of a stolen gun.)

That’s on page 3. On page 2, the ordinance states the following: “Over 150,000 firearms were reported lost or stolen in 2008. 85% of these guns were never recovered and tens of thousands more were likely never even reported.” So we can certainly see the value of this idea. Of course we’re not sure how they conclude that “tens of thousands” were likely never even reported, because, well…they weren’t reported.

Adams’s proposals are pathetic. We’ll keep an eye on this and keep you informed.

MAYOR DOES HIS PART TO KEEP PORTLAND WEIRD.

After a short hiatus tending to important government affairs,(sorry for the commercials) Portland’s Mayor, Sam “the tram” Adams has released his proposals to combat “illegal gun crime” in the Rose City.

His proposed ordinances can be viewed here. (Please pay special attention to “Exhibit 2, page 1 of 1.” If you can make any sense of it, we would like to know how you did it.)

Sam’s proposals come on a day when the city he so artfully runs had some bad news, which came a few days after some other, well let’s say “troubling” news.

Sam’s proposals are at best, pathetic and incoherent, but the two parts that are of particular interest to gun owners are his attempt to regulate storage of guns (clearly illegal) and his attempt to “require” that stolen guns are reported to police. (Clearly stupid.)

It’s hard to imagine what they are thinking in City Hall. What legitimate gun owner wouldn’t report a stolen gun, and what illegitimate gun owner gives a rip about one more regulation?

We, of course, are struck by the somewhat inconsistent application of government intervention here.  Apparently, Sam plans to put the full force of his dynamic political machine behind defending these brilliant policies, but has no plans to question why pot growers are arming themselves. Hey, we’re live and let live, but whether we like it or not, persons who consume weed are forbidden by federal law from owning guns. So why are law abiding gun owners looking at new and probably unlawful restrictions on their rights without one word from Adams about the arms buildup in the ganja community?

As much as Portland has become a place for people too weird for San Francisco, we remain concerned for the many good residents of Portland who deserve better than another fiscal incompetent with an affinity for underage playmates who wants to attack gun owners for the failures of his administration.

Adams has scheduled a hearing on his proposals for November 18th. We’ll keep you posted.

2010 Election Update

A FRESH FACE FOR OREGON

The historic 2010 elections are now mostly behind us. While much of the country voted to restore some fiscal and political sanity, Oregon bravely bucked the trend.

With some notable exceptions, voters chose candidates who promised to end policies of massive government intrusions. In Oregon, Multnomah County Elections workers  Portland voters returned John Kitzhaber to the Governor’s mansion.

This was an amazing race. While Chris Dudley held a small lead through most of the campaign, Kitzhaber pulled out a last minute victory, as so often happens when the Multnomah County votes are discovered recorded.

What’s most interesting about this race is that Kitzhaber campaigned on his “experience” but left office last time admitting he could not do the job.

Based on his history, it is reasonable to assume that along with creating special exceptions for his beach house and sweetheart deals for his girlfriend, Kitzhaber will veto any bill that can, in any way, be perceived as “pro-gun.”  Anyone running a business will consider relocating, schools will continue to fail and unemployment will rise. The public employee unions will continue to benefit until the state runs out of productive people to tax. (Which, when you think about it, can’t take much longer.)

On the national level, there was one congressional race that was very close. That was the 5th Congressional District race between Scott Bruun and Kurt Schrader.

Schrader went to Washington with a record as a committed enemy of gun owners. He voted to decimate gun shows in Oregon and, as a Congressman, voted to shut down organizations like OFF. Schrader has been one of Nancy Pelosi’s most obedient servants, voting for bail-outs for billionaires and Obama’s health control. As you might expect, he was rewarded by an endorsement from the NRA who also sent thousands of dollars to Harry Reid who elevated two committed gun banners to the Supreme Court. Harry was victorious over his opponent Sharon Angle, a strong supporter of gun rights. Thanks NRA!

Ballot Measure 71 passed overwhelmingly, meaning the voters have decided that the legislature was not doing enough damage meeting every other year, now they will meet every year. The con job was that with the passage of this measure, the legislature would be better able to deal with the budget, but the new sessions won’t be limited to the budget. If you watched the fiasco in February’s “special” session you saw how bills that are not really understood or even read get rammed through with almost no citizen input.

The good news is the change in the Oregon legislature. With one or two seats still in play, it appears right now that the Oregon House is split in half. The Senate might be as well, depending on the final vote count in District 3, where Alan Bates has been the last minute beneficiary of a sudden “surge” of Democrat ballots. If the anti-gun Bates prevails, the Oregon Senate will be 16-14 Democrat. If his opponent wins, the Senate will likely be split evenly as well.

Having both Houses evenly split would be unprecedented. The last time anything like that happened, the Senate was evenly split in 2003. Picking a Senate President became quite a circus until the Republicans folded and allowed anti-gun militant Peter Courtney to assume the position, one he has held ever since.

While there are several races whose outcomes benefit gun owners, there is no question that the single most exciting victory we had was the removal of our number one target, House Rep Judy Stiegler.

Stielger, from Bend, was a freshman legislator who masterfully derailed several popular pro-gun bills while attempting to portray herself as a supporter of gun rights. We are very pleased to have been able to return Stiegler to private practice. For everyone who worked to send her home, we thank you. OFF, and many OFF members, supported her opponent Jason Conger. We suggest you drop Jason a note and congratulate him, and please remind him that as gun owners, we are expecting him to be a strong supporter of gun rights.

Sample message:

_________________________________

info@conger4oregon.com

Jason.Conger@MillerNash.com

Dear Jason,

As an Oregon Firearms Federation member and strong supporter of the Second Amendment, I want to congratulate you on your victory over Judy Stiegler.
Stiegler did more to damage gun rights in 2009 than any other legislator and we are pleased to see her returned to private practice.
Many of us, both in and outside your district worked to defeat her, and now as the new Representative from Bend, we are looking forward to your strong support for gun rights. Clearly with John Kitzhaber as Governor, you will have your work cut out for you.
Your continued commitment to gun rights will be appreciated.

Sincerely,
_________________________________

 

We are also very pleased to be able to announce (unless there is another surge of “discovered” Democrat ballots) the retirement of Martha Schrader, Senate district 20, who lost to OFF-supported Alan Olsen. During the campaign, Martha, (Kurt Schrader’s wife) attacked pro-gun Olsen for a 30 year old bankruptcy. Now that Martha will be returning to her Canby home, perhaps she will find time to pay the real estate taxes she and Kurt have, in the past, chosen to ignore.

2011 will be another uphill climb for gun owners. The election of John Kitzhaber means we will have to work harder than ever to protect our rights. While most of the country is trending towards liberty, Oregon has re-elected pro-bailout, pro-health control, anti-gun Ron Wyden to the US Senate and the failed ex-governor one more time.

With your help we will keep on doing what we have done since 1999, fighting. Buckle up, folks, it’s going to be an interesting ride.

Stiegler Loses It.

Judy Stiegler, the House Rep from Bend who was the driving force behind shooting down a bill that would have protected the privacy of concealed handgun license holders AND a bill to recognize the licenses from other states has produced a TV ad where she appears playing an accordion while surrounded by very young children.

That in itself would not be remarkable. Lots of politicians run cheesy ads. But in this ad, Oregon’s most anti-gun House Rep decorates her set with several long guns carefully arranged in the background as a subtle attempt to create a pro-gun persona.

Given Stiegler’s record, it’s particularly disconcerting to see her sending a message that leaving unattended firearms around a bunch of pre-schoolers is OK. No doubt Stiegler would be the first in line to make it a crime to do exactly that.  Stiegler has always been an enemy of gun owners, so this ad is just another example of the depths to which certain politicians will sink.

ELECTION TIME. A MESSAGE FROM OFFPAC

Election Time.

Dear Gun Rights Supporter,

The election is just a few short weeks away. I hope you are registered to vote, but if you are not, please make it a priority. The November election will surely be one of the most important in our lifetime.

As a reminder, the Oregon Firearms Political Action Committee has posted our candidate ratings here:

Neither of the major candidates for Governor responded to our survey. (We did receive a response from the Constitution Party Candidate Greg Kord who answered our survey 100%). We also received no response from the major party candidates for Senator.

We cannot provide a recommendation on the Republican Candidate for Governor, who ignored several requests (including one, in person, on the Capitol steps) to respond to our survey, so we have no idea where he stands.

He did tell us he had responded to the NRA’s survey. But since you are not allowed to see those responses and since the NRA frequently supports anti-gun candidates like Harry Reid and Kurt Schrader (whom the NRA actually endorsed) we do not consider that meaningful.(Schrader’s opponent Scott Bruun has strong pro-gun record.)

The Schrader endorsement is interesting since he voted to criminalize private sales at gun shows, but since the NRA ignored that legislative battle maybe it should not be that much of a surprise. What it does mean is that the NRA is promoting a legislator who votes with militant anti-gun Pelozi virtually all the time. Schrader also voted in favor of the NRA approved “Disclose Act” which was intended to silence organizations like OFF.

While we cannot recommend either Dudley for Governor or Huffman for Senate since they simply refuse to take a stand on gun rights, we can tell you that their principle opponents, Wyden in the Senate race and Kitzhaber in the Governor’s race are openly and rabidly anti gun-rights.

OFFPAC strongly urges you to get involved in any way you can in the next few weeks. The outcome of the election will not only have a profound effect on your gun rights, it will determine who may provide your healthcare and how much more it will cost, how high your tax bill will go and how much more of your freedom will disappear in the next few years.

Please, if a candidate in your district has not made their positions clear, call them. Question them. And…vote.
For more information on OFFPAC please go here:

“DISCLOSE ACT” FAILS

The “Disclose Act,” which we warned you about yesterday, failed to reach the 60 votes needed to move forward, and while not dead yet, it seems unlikely that the bill will pass this session.

This bill, which had passed the House with the tacit approval of the NRA, would have silenced countless activist groups across the country.

Charles Schumer invoked images of shadowy foreign groups hijacking American elections, when in fact the bill was intended to silence groups like OFF, which, whatever else people want to call us, is neither “shadowy” nor “foreign”.

As expected, both Oregon Senators voted in favor of moving the bill forward (actually Oregon’s entire congressional delegation voted for this awful bill except for Greg Walden.)

The NRA cut a deal with Harry Reid to be exempted from the bill, throwing all other pro-gun organizations, local and national, under the bus. But in the end, we didn’t need them.

Thanks to everyone who took the time to contact Wyden and Merkley. They are among the most anti-liberty members of the Senate and they proved it again with this vote. But they still need to hear from you.

We’ll keep an eye on this, but with any luck it’s toast until after the elections when many of these clowns will have been “repurposed.”

NRA DARLING HARRY REID SCHEDULES VOTE TO GAG OPPONENTS.

The clock is ticking on the current Senate’s ability to ram its big government agenda down our throats, and now Harry Reid is trying one last time to silence groups like OFF while giving a free pass to the NRA with whom he cut a deal. (Reid had received almost $10,000.00 from NRA in the last two elections.)

The “Disclose Act” is scheduled for a vote tomorrow and it’s designed to protect the establishment while ending the ability of grass roots groups to engage in political speech.

Reid has scheduled a cloture vote on S. 3628, the DISCLOSE Act (which should be known as “the Establishment Protection Act”), for this Thursday.
Please contact Senator Jeff Merkley at (202) 224-3753 and Senator Ron Wyden at (202) 224-5244 right away and demand they OPPOSE DISCLOSE on every vote – including cloture.

This terrible and certainly unconstitutional legislation was tacitly approved by the NRA when they were given a “carve out” from it by Reid. The Democrats KNOW it’s unconstitutional and KNOW it will be overturned, but not in time for the upcoming elections, and that is their plan.

This bill will infringe on our members’ privacy and limit our ability to mobilize grassroots activists while exempting the NRA.

The big government supporters are scrambling to act before many of them lose their seats in November. They are trying to gag any organization that opposes them by lying to you about what this bill does. It’s not about “big corporations” it’s about groups like OFF, Gun Owners of America and activist organization across the country.

Wyden and Merkley are among the most anti-liberty Senators in the country. But they still need to know where you stand.
Please contact Senator Jeff Merkley at (202) 224-3753 and Senator Ron Wyden at (202) 224-5244 right away and demand they OPPOSE DISCLOSE on every vote – including cloture.

Portland’s Mayor …Pathetic Media Whore

Portland’s disgraced Mayor, and self admitted liar, Sam Adams, having apparently run out of teen boys to “mentor” has turned his sights (such as they are) on firearms.

In a press release issued today, timed so most local pro-gun talk show hosts had wrapped up for the week, Adams proposed sweeping new anti-gun regulations for the City of Portland.

Adams, whose predilection for underage lovers follows in the footsteps of Neil Goldschmidt (a mentor of anti-gun extremist Ginny Burdick) is asking for comments on his proposals, which would violate Oregon law. The law follows:

166.170 State preemption. (1) Except as expressly authorized by state statute, the authority to regulate in any matter whatsoever the sale, acquisition, transfer, ownership, possession, storage, transportation or use of firearms or any element relating to firearms and components thereof, including ammunition, is vested solely in the Legislative Assembly. (2) Except as expressly authorized by state statute, no county, city or other municipal corporation or district may enact civil or criminal ordinances, including but not limited to zoning ordinances, to regulate, restrict or prohibit the sale, acquisition, transfer, ownership, possession, storage, transportation or use of firearms or any element relating to firearms and components thereof, including ammunition. Ordinances that are contrary to this subsection are void. [1995 s.s. c.1 §1]

In his press release, Adams actually brags about being a “founding member” of New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s “Mayors Against Illegal Guns” an organization that is comical in its mindless pursuit of new gun restrictions each time their heavily restricted cities has a shooting…in spite of their gun restrictions.

(UPDATE 8.27.10:
Apparently, even THAT’S a lie, in typical Adams fashion. See here and here.

We think it’s safe to say that this latest PR stunt will backfire, just like everything else this sorry, freedom-hating loser has done.  But anything can happen in Portland. So keep your powder dry.

ADDED 8.23.10

On the other hand, some of Sam’s proposals just might pass. He wants gang bangers to have a “curfew” and be forbidden from certain neighborhoods, most likely their own.

It’s both comical and pathetic to think shootings in Portland are going to be stopped by telling criminals to go to bed earlier and not cross the street, but it’s probably legal. We say, “have at it Sammy.”

FUNDING ARRIVES FOR “MENTAL HEALTH” LEGISLATION

As you know, in the 2009 legislative session, OFF supporters fought hard to defeat the passage of  HB 2853.

This bill forced Oregon into compliance with a Federal law that was pushed by a coalition of the National Rifle Association and the Brady Campaign to ban firearms.  (HR 2640)

The purpose of the Federal Legislation was to centralize mental health records so they could be used to deny firearms purchases. At the time, the excuse used by both the NRA and Brady Campaign to ram this through was the Virginia Tech shooting. However, had this law been in effect at the time of that massacre, it would have had no effect whatsoever.

Although we were able to force the Oregon legislature to amend the bill 10 times, in the end it did pass. However, its implementation was dependent on sufficient funding which until now, did not exist.

Yesterday we received this letter stating that the funding was now available. Neither the folks at the Psychiatric Security Review Board, nor the Oregon State Police have been able to tell us how much of the funding came from the state and how much came from the Feds, (both of which, of course, are flush with cash.)

Update. Since this alert was first issued, we have received the following details about funding from the Oregon State Police:

“I don’t want to over complicate the answer to your question, but it’s first important to note that HB 2853 was primarily focused on mental health related record information and the creation of Oregon’s relief program. Our federal grant (NICS Act Record Improvement Program, referred to as “NARIP”) applies to all aspects of NIAA compliance. I’ll try to break it down accordingly.

Our 2009 NARIP grant award was in the amount of $770,849. Out of the full award, $543,663 went to State Police for record reconciliation work; $117,424 went to the Oregon Judicial Department for record reconciliation work; and, $109,762 went to the Psychiatric Security Review Board (PSRB) for record reconciliation work ($32,677) and their newly established Gun Relief Program ($77,085).

On the state funding side of your question, during the February special session, the Oregon Legislature added $227,377 in General Fund to the PSRB’s budget for the current biennium. The funds were provided specifically to implement the relief program requirements of HB 2853.”

Background checks all to often lead to improper delays and denials. But in recent years, the State Police have improved their response to persons who have been denied because of erroneous criminal information. In most cases, these errors can be resolved with a phone call.

This law would require persons who have been denied for “psychiatric” reasons to appear before the “Psychiatric Review Board” to try to get their rights restored. At no time during the lengthy hearings on this bill, or now, has anyone explained how the “Psychiatric Review Board” plans to address the dilemma of false information being included in their database, or how a person whose information was incorrect and had moved out of Oregon could address this problem.

Another victory for the National Rifle Association.

For the second part of Oregon Politico’s report on firearms, click here.

MORE MUCKRAKERS PILE ON.

A “reporter” for the Salem “Statesman Journal” is demanding ALL information of concealed handgun license holders.

Stacey Barchenger has contacted several sheriffs demanding “information about all people with concealed handgun licenses in Marion County, including all fieldsthat are part of the CHL applications.” (Emphasis added.)

This particular demand makes it clear that Barchenger is seeking not only names, addresses, phone numbers and references, but also the social security numbers of any license holder who disclosed it.

In Barchenger’s demand letter, she says “Please understand that we seek these records for the purposes of public interest, and we hope that the spirit of openness in Oregon government will prevail.”  However Barchenger has refused to disclose the reason for the demand, and while making her demands “in the spirit of openness,” doesn’t even allow people to see the contents of her “twitter” page.

Most sheriffs are making good faith efforts to protect the privacy of license holders, but like hyenas in a feeding frenzy, we fully expect the “press” to use the recent court decision in Jackson County as an excuse to divulge sensitive information.

It’s essential that we do all we can to make sure legislation is passed in 2011 to guarantee the privacy of CHL holders. In the meantime we suggest that you contact Barchenger and let her know that having a CHL does not make a person newsworthy and that you expect to have your privacy respected.

Stacey Barchenger
Statesman Journal
280 NE Church St.
Salem, OR 97301
503-399-6610
sbarchenge@statesmanjournal.com

http://www.facebook.com/sbarchenger?ref=search

MySpace – www.myspace.com/11962605

OFFPAC Alert

CHL INFO TO BE MADE PUBLIC, AND WHAT YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT.

Please help us retire Judy Steigler and elect Jason Conger.

As you may have heard, the Jackson County Sheriff has lost his battle to protect the private information of concealed handgun licensees.

The Medford Mail Tribune has demanded, and now will receive, the names, addresses, phone numbers and occupations of license holders in Jackson County. They may also demand this same information for the entire state, as can anyone, “newspaper,” “reporter” or thief. (Many applicants included their Social Security numbers. It is not at all clear if these will be available as well.)

This info was demanded so the Tribune could “out” as many teachers as possible after the Oregon Firearms Educational Foundation funded a lawsuit to protect the rights of a Medford teacher.

Most sheriffs have taken steps to safeguard this information from future snooping, but those efforts have not yet faced legal scrutiny. So for now, if you are a license holder, your privacy is very much in jeopardy.

There is no reason this information should be available to the public. These are not records of “government activity” as has been falsely claimed by the “Tribune” and the ACLU. These are records of private information, extorted by the state in order for Oregonians to exercise what should be a right. There is no more a need for this information to be in the public domain than should be your tax records.

In 2009, House Rep’s Kim Thatcher and Jeff Barker introduced HB 2727 to make this data private. The bill had broad bipartisan support and seemed to be a sure thing, until House Rep Judy Steigler (D Bend), stepped in to torpedo it.  Later Steigler blamed voters who strongly supported the bill for its failure! Steigler was also responsible for the death of a bill in 2009 that would have had Oregon recognize other states’ concealed handgun licenses, a bill that was strongly supported by the Oregon Sheriffs Association.

In 2011, CHL privacy legislation will almost surely be reintroduced. But we need to do all we can to make sure Steigler is not around to kill this important bill. That’s why OFFPAC is asking that you do all you can to help return Steigler to private practice and replace her with someone who respects gun rights.

Frankly, Steigler has done more to damage progress on gun rights in Oregon than even Ginny Burdick, whose efforts to attack gun owners have been almost exclusively failures except when she had millions in out of state money and the help of John McCain. (2000’s Measure 5)

If you live in Steigler’s district, obviously, you can vote against her, but no matter where you live, you can help her opponent Jason Conger.

Remember, the laws are made by legislators whether they are in your district or not. We believe substantial progress would have been made in 2009 except for the actions of Steigler and we hope you will help us replace her.

Conger has answered our survey 100%. OFFPAC is asking that you consider the most generous donation you can make to help send Judy home and elect Jason Conger. You can ute directly to Conger’s campaign here.

No doubt we will see months of analysis of this lengthy SCOTUS decision.
The US Supreme Court has ruled that Chicago’s handgun ban is unconstitutional and remanded the case back to a lower court
If you want to read it yourself, click here.