Category: OFF Alerts

The 2007 Oregon Legislative Session has begun.

Yesterday, January 9th, the first gun bills were introduced.

For some indication of what to expect, the Democrats in the Senate have already passed a Resolution calling for annual sessions. (Twice the opportunity to erode your rights.) They did this without a single word of public testimony. No public hearing was held on the issue at any time.
So far gun bills are the introduced versions of drafts we have had posted on our website for some time.

To keep track of, and see the bills, (and all future bills) please use this link

There will be plenty more as the session continues.

There are some important developments of which you should be aware, that will make you a more informed and effective citizen lobbyist.

Please make use of the following links:

This is the Home page of the Oregon Legislature.

If you spend some time you will find it to be very useful. This page has contact information for all legislators and a link to find your representatives.

On the right side of this page you will find a link entitled “Esubscribe.” You can use this link to get regular e-mail updates of committee schedules. You can sign up for whatever committees you want. We suggest you sign up for the schedules of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees. These schedules will let you know when gun bills are being heard. If you choose, you can come to the capitol and offer your testimony.

For those who cannot come to the Capitol, the Legislature now offers a way to watch any hearing or floor session, live on your computer.

For that, please use this link: It will take you to a page where you can pick whatever hearing room or chamber you want to monitor.

You can learn the times and locations of any hearing, by using this link.

2007 promises to be a pivotal year in the battle for gun rights, but you will have more tools than ever before to be effective in this fight.

Please keep an eye on our legislation tracking page and please be sure to make your voice heard.

GUN BILL DRAFTS POSTED

We now have copies of the drafts introduced yesterday in a joint session of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees.

Most of these drafts, (which will be introduced as “committee bills” so no legislator’s names are on them,) will be introduced as House Bills. The “lock up your gun” draft has been introduced in the Senate.

As you know, while anti-gunners control both the House and Senate, they are stronger in the Senate. (The recent defection of Ben Westund to the Democrats gives them an additional vote.) We believe that bills introduced in the House will have any pro-gun language stripped out when the bills make their way to the Senate, where they will be under the control of Ginny Burdick.

One of these drafts eliminates the ability to petition for a restoration of rights after a felony conviction. Keep in mind, if Burdick has her way, almost all gun owners will be felons.

Another is the Sheriff’s bill from last year that OFF members killed. It is basically a wish list of new ways to revoke or deny permits. Interestingly, it includes our language from last year which would allow active duty military, who are deployed away from home, to renew concealed handgun licenses by mail. This was the token pro-gun addition the Sheriffs allowed last year in hopes of getting our approval. That bill had been introduced in the House as well, and we knew that when it went to the Senate and Burdick, it was likely that the pro-gun token would be stripped out. The rest of the bill was bad news. We opposed it, and when you made your voices heard the bill died
.
We have no plans of supporting any bill that reduces gun owners’ rights. Last year the bill was opposed by the NRA. We have no idea whether we can count on their opposition this year.

Also returning is a bill that would define the word “unloaded” for situations where a person was operating a snowmobile or atv. Currently, it is a traffic violation to operate either with a firearm that contains a round even if not in the chamber. This bill would define “loaded” has having a chambered round, or a round under the hammer of revolver.

All the drafts can be downloaded here.

Please bookmark this page. It will be where all gun bills will be tracked in the 2007 session

REPEAL OF BAN ON FIREARMS IN NATIONAL PARKS INTRODUCED

As you know, there have been dramatic changes in the make up of the US Congress. Militant anti-gunners will soon be in charge. But they are not yet.

A coalition of state-wide gun rights organizations, spearheaded by Virginia Gun Owner’s Coalition has gotten outgoing Senator George Allen to introduce a bill to eliminate the Federal ban on firearms possession in National Parks. Trust us, it wasn’t easy.

This may be the last chance we have to promote positive national legislation for the next two years. The bill can be downloaded here.

What we need now is immediate action, before the lame duck session of Congress ends and the friends of Charles Schumer are in charge.

Bill Frist is still the Senate Majority leader. He is in a position to fast track this bill before the Democrats take over. He needs to hear from you as soon as possible. (Both Frist and Allen have presidential aspirations. They DO care what you think.)

To allow you to bypass the web mail system that Senators use to discourage communication, we suggest you write directly to Frist’s political director, Chip Saltsman at this e-mail address: chip@volpac.org

Suggested text follows. Feel free to alter it.

_________________________________________________
Dear Senator Frist,

You have a unique opportunity to make a statement about your support for Second Amendment Rights by using your office to secure a vote on Senator Allen’s legislation to repeal the dangerous Federal ban on possession of firearms in National Parks, S 4057.
This may be our last opportunity to move positive legislation for at least two years.
I strongly urge you to do everything in your power to secure a vote on this important legislation.

Truly yours,
_________________________________________________

Please also consider an e-mail to Senator Allen through his legislative director Paul Unger, :paul_unger@allen.senate.gov

Dear Senator Allen,
Thank you for introducing a bill to repeal the Federal ban on firearms possession in National Parks.

Please do everything you can to secure a floor vote for this critically needed legislation. As you know, without a vote, the bill’s introduction will mean nothing.

Truly yours,

Tuesday’s election has turned over both houses of Oregon’s legislature, and the Governorship, to the Democrats.

The US House has been taken over by Democrats as well. Next in line for the job of Speaker of the House is Nancy Pelosi, an ultra liberal from California.

Control of the US Senate is still to be resolved. is now in the hands of the Democrats.

Oregon gun owners’ obviously are concerned about what this means to them.

Democrats have moderated their position on gun control somewhat. In the tightly contested Senate race between George Allen and Jim Webb in Virginia, the Democrat Webb proudly posted his NRA survey on his website and openly courted gun owners. Other Democrats have pointedly avoided the issue, but there can be no mistake that the most powerful and vocal Democratic leaders in the US Congress are rabidly anti-gun.

So it would not be unreasonable to expect a new semi-auto ban to be introduced. As you know, George Bush has repeatedly promised to sign such a bill should it reach his desk. It’s likely that any new ban would not have a grandfather clause to allow you to keep guns you already own.

Even if it is only as bad as the original, many magazines will be banned. Keep in mind that possibility NOW before any new action can be taken by a Democratically control US Congress.

Although not specifically gun related, an amnesty program for illegal aliens is now virtually assured. When that happens, millions of illegals will be closer to voting rights, and it’s a safe bet to which party they will be loyal.

Locally we can expect, at very least, most of the anti-gun bills introduced by Ginny Burdick to be brought back. For a look at what she attempted last session, see here.
(These include a 10 year prison sentence and a quarter million dollar fine for owning a semi-automatic rifle.)

Last session, with Republicans in control of the Oregon House, we were reasonably certain that anti-gun bills would not get hearings there. That seems far less likely now, although it will depend greatly on who winds up as Chair of the House Judiciary Committee.

While at least one of the Democrats who sat on that committee in the past was reliably pro-gun, the new leadership in the House will have tremendous leverage to pressure him to hear anti-gun bills should he become the new chairman. (Which is highly unlikely.)

It would be premature to jump to any conclusions about what will happen starting in January. Remember, Oregon’s concealed handgun law, as flawed as it was, passed in 1989, when the Democrats controlled both Houses and the Governor’s office. In 1999, when the Republicans controlled the House and Senate, we saw Republicans promote, and very nearly pass, Kevin Mannix’s anti-gun show bill, failing by only one vote.

Still, it would be wise to assume that we will have far greater fights than we have in recent years and the House Democrats will be much more open to moving anti-gun bills.

When the Republicans controlled the House last session, very few pro-gun bills moved out of committee, so you can imagine what the chances will be with the Democrats in control.

What’s important now is to be prepared, organized and active. If you are a supporter of OFF, thank you for all your help. If you are not yet a member, there has never been a more important time get involved. You can join and support OFF online here:

We are expecting the first anti-gun bills to be introduced before the session starts. As always, OFF will fight without compromise for your gun rights. Your involvement now is essential.

A Message From OFF-PAC

As you know, the elections are upon us.

Most voters have already received their ballots, and it’s time to make the decisions that will decide what kind of government we will have to live under for the next two years.

Just as the makeup of the US Congress will have a profound effect on our lives, so too will the makeup of the Oregon legislature.

For some time we have had our ratings posted for Oregon candidates. You can view those here.

OFF PAC urges you to exercise your right to vote and be a part of the process. If you feel that you don’t have sufficient information about a candidate, we strongly urge you to contact them. Remember, they are asking you to hire them to do a job. A job that will effect your rights and freedoms.

You can find contact information for all candidates here.

If you are unsure of what district you are in, you can use this link to find out.

Your efforts in the past have prevented the anti-gun forces in the Oregon legislature from gaining any ground, but we have already been informed by an Oregon legislator that Senator Ginny Burdick, (whose only interest is new gun control) has anti-gun legislation ready for introduction.
In fact, she may try to introduce it BEFORE the next session begins. If that happens, we’ll let you know. So you can see, who you elect will be very important.

Neither of the major party candidates for Governor can be viewed as friends of gun owners. Neither would answer our brief survey.

While Ted Kulongoski recently sent a letter to some voters claiming he’d applied for a concealed handgun license, he has made it quite clear in the past that he is no friend of gun owners.

Ron Saxton got high praise from the NRA, but they ignored his past support for radical anti-gunners like Burdick and Earl Blumenauer.

See “NW Republican’s” reporting on Saxton’s record.

Here, “NW Republican’s” blogger , Ted Piccolo notes “For there is the unique way in which Mr. Saxton has been able to take both sides of various issues. Conservative when speaking to conservatives yet liberal when voting or speaking to liberals.”

Unless a pro-gun, minor party candidate beats the odds and becomes governor, we will not have a friend in the governor’s mansion next year.

That’s why the makeup of the legislature will be so important.
Please be sure to be involved this election.

WASHINGTON COUNTY NOISE ORDINANCE THREATENS GUN OWNERS

While this alert is very last minute, it’s important news for people who live or shoot in Washington County.

Alert gun owners have made us aware of a proposed “noise control” ordinance that may expose gun owners to civil liabilities.

The ordinance, which can be downloaded here proposes civil penalties for a wide range of activities that produce sound at over 60 (dba) from 7am to 10 pm and over (50 dba) from 10pm to 7am.

Although the proposed rule includes a long list of exceptions, there is NO exception for the lawful discharge of firearms.

Furthermore, any “private citizen may issue a notice of civil infraction.” Clearly the potential for abuse and harassment of gun owners is tremendous.

Public comment is being accepted through today, Oct. 13th, but we strongly urge that you make your concerns heard even if you receive this alert after today.

Written comments may be sent to:
Heather Robinson
Washington County
Dept. of Health & Human Services
155 N. First Ave.,MS#4
Hillsboro, OR 97123
Fax: 503-846-4928

You may send e-mail to <noise@co.washington.or.us>

Keep in mind that politicians respond to constituents no matter what “deadlines” are proposed. Please let Washington County know that you want an unambiguous exception for lawful firearms’ discharge.

Questions and Answers on Background Checks.

Oregon Firearms Federation, with a lot of help from Representative Kim Thatcher, has received some answers to questions we had about the current background check procedure for firearms purchases.

As you may know, there has been a dramatic increase in delays and denials in the last few months.(OSP has informed us that the FBI is requiring more intrusive background checks searching for persons with histories of “domestic violence.” However, some believe that this is part of a broad based program to interfere with legitimate firearms purchases.)

We met with the Oregon State Police and Representative Thatcher and there the OSP requested that we supply our questions in writing. We did, and they eventually replied.

We did however, have an additional question to which they have not replied.

That question was, “where does OSP get the authority to tell gun buyers they have to wait 10 or more days to complete a transfer?” We asked them that on Sept 6th 2006 and have received no response.

(Update. On Nov. 22, 2006, we received a phone call from the Oregon State Police ID unit, offering to address this question. They informed us that, in their opinion, they got the authority to tell buyers they needed to wait for various lengths of time, by ORS 166.412.The specific section they referred to says the following:  (b) If the department is unable to determine if the purchaser is qualified or disqualified from completing the transfer within 30 minutes, the department shall notify the dealer and provide the dealer with an estimate of the time when the department will provide the requested information.

However, if you read the next line, you will see the following: (c) If the department fails to provide a unique approval number to a gun dealer or to notify the gun dealer that the purchaser is disqualified under paragraph (a) of this subsection before the close of the gun dealer’s next business day following the request by the dealer for a criminal history record check, the dealer may deliver the handgun to the purchaser.

The Oregon State Police do not have a policy of informing gun dealers that they are, in fact, allowed to make the transfer without an approval after the specified time. Dealers in states who contact NICS directly are informed of the Federal Law which allows transfers to take place without an approval after three business days.

For a copy of the questions and the answers provided by the Oregon State Police, please use this link.

STILL MORE ON BACKGROUND CHECKS,

As you know from previous alerts, OFF has been investigating new background check requirements for persons buying guns from FFL dealers.

In a previous alert, we told you about House Rep. Kim Thatcher’s efforts on behalf of gun owners.

Now, OFF has received a letter from Senator Gordon Smith responding to an inquiry we made about the new background check procedures.

As we have told you, we have heard from a number of gun owners who have been delayed in their purchases because of these new and more extensive checks.

Smith sent us a copy of a letter he received from the FBI which we are passing along to you. You can download a copy of this letter here.

Included in the letter from Senator Smith was a copy of the “Voluntary Appeal File Application.” You can download a copy of that here.

This is a program that allows the FBI to maintain information on you in their files, that they are not allowed to keep without your permission.

Its stated purpose is to streamline gun purchases for people who have been wrongly delayed in the past.

If you have experienced unwarranted delays, you may want to consider this program. However, we strongly recommend that you make this decision with utmost care.

We provide this for your information only and it should not be considered an endorsement of this program.

STILL MORE ON BACKGROUND CHECKS

As you know from previous alerts, the Oregon State Police have intensified background checks for firearms purchases
.
As a result, we have heard from many gun owners who have had firearms purchases delayed for lengthy periods of time while the police sought more information about potential instances of “domestic violence” in their pasts.

As we told you previously, the State Police have stated that these more extensive background checks were mandated by the FBI. House Representative Kim Thatcher, one of Oregon’s most committed supporters of gun rights, requested more information from the State Police. You can download a copy of their response here.

The letter includes the following statement:

“However in late 2004 during a training session of the National Instant Check System (NICS) conducted by FBI, NICS representatives noted that the Oregon Firearms Instant Check System (FICS) check did not include the appropriate research into misdemeanor crimes of domestic violence when there is no indicator regarding domestic involvement.”

Note that we are only aware of problems starting more recently than late 2004. It is also interesting to note the following sentences from the letter:

“In these instances, it is not possible for the background check to be ‘instant’ and still ensure the purchaser can lawfully take possession of the firearm. As referenced in 166.412(c), the dealer may release the firearm to the purchaser after the specified period.”

As we have pointed out in the past, if the State Police do not give an approval or denial “before the close of the gun dealer’s next business day following the request by the dealer for a criminal history record check, the dealer may deliver the handgun to the purchaser.”

We hope this information will be useful to gun owners who are experiencing trouble making legal purchases, and we thank Representative Thatcher for her interest and involvement in issues of importance to gun owners.

MORE ON NEW BACKGROUND CHECKS.

On June 16th, OFF alerted you to new and more invasive background checks being conducted by the Oregon State Police for firearms purchases
.
As you know, OFF has been receiving reports of many lengthy delays for people who have no criminal history.

We contacted Senator Gordon Smith’s office to find out exactly what was going on. Today we received an e-mail from Matt Hill, a staffer for Smith. He provided the following information.

“NICS/FBI was doing a training in Oregon in Spring of 2005. In
conversations with OSP, they found that OSP (in performing background
checks) was only looking for certain types (felony) of arrests and
convictions.
NICS/FBI asserted that OSP needs to be looking at the misdemeanor
crime of harassment to determine if it meets the domestic violence
threshold under the law.
Harassment now triggers a more lengthy check by OSP. In certain
cases, OSP needs to research whether there was a conviction or just an
arrest, and determine if the harassment “victim” is someone within the
household — which would trigger “domestic violence.” OSP said that
this research is what is taking longer for some background checks,
especially if it’s a common name.”

If you have been unjustifiably delayed or denied as a result of these new rules, and you would like to share your story, please e-mail us with the specifics of your case.

 

On June 28th Colorado Congresswoman Marilyn Musgrave passed an amendment to an appropriations bill that stops the federal government from implementing the trigger lock provisions of the gun lawsuits liability bill passed by the NRA last year.

The Musgrave Amendment (an amendment to the Science, State, Justice, and Commerce Appropriations bill) will allow no funds to be made available (to the Justice Department) to carry out section 924(p) of title 18. This section is the penalties section relating to the new trigger lock law that says that every handgun sold, must be sold with a trigger lock.

The penalty for manufacturers, importers and licensed dealers who fail to provide a trigger lock with a sale of a handgun is:

Suspension for not more than 6 months, or revocation of their license.

Fine of not more than $2,500.

The trigger lock provision was part of the “Firearms Manufacturers Protection” bill that was signed into law on Oct. 26, 2005. The trigger lock provision took effect on April 24th, 2006. At the time the bill was being debated, we warned of the dangers of the trigger lock requirement, but the NRA insisted that the bill pass with that and other bad provisions.

There were 230 aye votes and 191 noes on Musgrave’s amendment. All four Democratic, Oregon House members voted against your rights, only Republican Greg Walden supported the amendment.

Hooley, DeFazio,Blumenauer and Wu all voted “no.”

You can view the vote here.

Capitol sources informed us, that before the vote, it looked like the amendment might die because the NRA had not taken a position. When pressed by hill staffers, the NRA simply would not take a stand on the amendment.

According to those sources, the NRA’s reasoning for not getting involved was “our plate is just too full right now.”

Remember that early in 2005 the NRA claimed they would strip out these bad provisions after they passed the gun lawsuits liability bill in the Senate. Then, when the trigger lock provisions were added in the Senate, they claimed they HAD to pass this bill as it was. They put a full court press on Congress to pass a bill with trigger lock provisions, and dismissed the anti-gun amendments as “meaningless.”

Anyone who needs their firearm in a hurry, but has been fed the lie about trigger locks, won’t call this capitulation on trigger locks “meaningless.”

This amendment was an attempt to undo what the NRA did in 2005 — and it passed, despite the naysayers in the institutional gun lobby. Now we need to get the same amendment attached to the appropriation in the Senate.  

NEW BACKGROUND CHECK REQUIREMENTS. FEDERAL CONTROL OF HANDGUN LICENSES?

Persons attempting to purchase firearms in Oregon have recently been facing new and more intrusive background checks.

The Oregon State Police have been instructed by the FBI to do more extensive checks on buyers in an attempt to find more people guilty of crimes of “domestic violence.”

As a result many, many purchasers are facing long delays . Often, people in possession of concealed handgun licenses are being needlessly delayed in spite of their obvious qualifications.

Buyers should, however, be aware of Oregon law 166.412.

In section 3(c) it states: “If the department fails to provide a unique approval number to a gun dealer or to notify the gun dealer that the purchaser is disqualified under paragraph (a) of this subsection before the close of the gun dealer’s next business day following the request by the dealer for a criminal history record check, the dealer may deliver the handgun to the purchaser.”

If you believe you have been wrongly delayed and are willing to share your experience, please send us a note describing what happened.

On another issue, you may have heard about a bill being promoted by Senator George Allen of Virginia. The bill’s (S. 3275) purpose is to mandate, Federally, a recognition of concealed handgun licenses. You can read the text of the bill here.

While we obviously support the goal, we think this bill could prove to be far more dangerous than helpful. As we are learning by our experience with the FBI’s meddling in Oregon’s background checks, once the Federal government gets involved, the danger of new restrictions, on top of existing state restrictions becomes immense.

While the bill has the support of the National Rifle Association, you’ll recall that the bill they heavily promoted (and passed) concerning immunity for gun dealers, came at the cost of dangerous new gun controls.

The last thing Oregon gun owner’s need are New York style mandates brought on by “national standards.”

Allen is reportedly planning a run for President, and needs to hear from gun owners that interstate recognition is a state matter, and the Feds should keep out of it. As more and more states are recognizing other’s licenses, this bill is dangerous and unneeded.

E-mails can be sent directly to Allen’s staff at this address and you can bypass the webform on his website. For more on the potential dangers of this bill, please read the commentary by Andy Barniskis here.

A Message From OFF PAC

Dear Fellow Gun Rights Supporter,

As you know, we have very high standards for people who are asking to be hired for public office. OFF PAC rarely endorses candidates but always holds them accountable.

We are getting close to the final days to vote in the primary election. If you are a registered Republican, we strongly urge you cast your vote for Senator Jason Atkinson for Governor.

Of the Republican candidates, only Atkinson has a solid record on gun rights. Of the three major Republican candidates, only Atkinson went on the record and returned the OFF PAC candidate survey. (Oddly, Ron Saxton completed a six page NRA survey, but refused to answer a six question OFF survey.)

Atkinson has made no secret of his desire to reach out to gun owners. He has been a consistent voice for gun rights in the legislature. In contrast, Mannix has a well known anti-gun record in spite of the high marks given to him in the past by the National Rifle Association, and Saxton has no record on gun rights at all.

Since both Mannix and Saxton have a record of trying to work both sides of the fence, (Mannix was a liberal Democratic legislator and favors government solutions to every problem, and Saxton has close ties to the liberal establishment in Portland,) we think that Atkinson’s consistency on many issues makes him the only reasonable choice in this race.

Regardless of which party you are in, we hope you will consider financially supporting Senator Atkinson, and if you are a registered Republican, voting for him in the primary.

Gun owners can make the difference in this race. In the last race for governor, Mannix lost by a narrow margin after gun owners learned of his anti-gun record, in spite of his lying to voters about that record. Your vote can make all the difference in this race as well.

Please support Senator Atkinson financially and with your vote.

For more, please see our commentary page.

Special Session Coming

As you no doubt know, the Oregon legislature will be meeting for a special session starting on Thursday, April 20th.

While we expect the issues on the table to be limited, we have no guarantees. So rest assured we will be watching carefully.

If you are in the Medford area, tune in tomorrow to KMED at 7:05AM for a discussion of the latest BATF actions with OFF Executive Director Kevin Starrett. As you probably know, the BATF has ramped up their attacks on gun owners recently and Congress has held several hearings dealing with ATF abuses.

We have posted new links on our website to bring you up to speed on these hearings if you missed them the first time. You can find those links here.

They appear at the top of the page.

If you are going to be in the Portland area this weekend, consider stopping by the Expo gun show.

Please come by the OFF table if you make it to the show. There’s lots to talk about including the upcoming elections.

If you have not already gotten a copy of “Understanding Oregon’s Gun Laws” this would be a great time to pick one up.

Hope to see you there.

If you missed the BATFE hearings in the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security, held on the February 15th, we’d like to give you a brief wrap up.

Annette Gelles, a gun show promoter, testified about outrageous harassment and abuse at the hands of ATF agents and other law enforcement officers at gun shows in Virginia.

Stories were told of customers having agents show up at their homes to grill their family members about gun purchases, sometimes before they even returned home from the show. If no one was home, neighbors were questioned.

James Lalime, a private citizen who worked as a salesman for an FFL dealer sometimes, was detained and questioned, all while law enforcement agents, some with obscenities printed on their tee shirts, made ridiculous and unsupported accusations against him.

But as is so often the case, the star of the show was a FFL dealer whose comments were largely an attack on private collectors. John White, a former police officer, seemed more concerned that collectors were able to sell guns without the onerous background checks that are required of dealers, than he was about the abuses being perpetrated by the ATFE agents and other police officers.

The legislators present expressed more than a little skepticism at the stories they were told. Congressman Delahunt, from (where else?) Massachusetts, virtually accused the witnesses of lying about the good men and women of BATFE. And he and Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee used the hearing to promote even more gun control.

The Chairman,Howard Coble, missed no opportunity to repeat over and over, that they were NOT there to criticize ATFE.

No one from ATFE testified, although the chair indicated that they would be at a future hearing.
We believe that these hearings may easily turn into a new attempt to impose Oregon style gun show restrictions (or worse) on a national level.

The behavior of law enforcement at gun shows in Virginia was inexcusable and frightening. BATFE has a long history of abuses against gun owners, and this was only one more example of that abuse. If Congress members continue to bend over backwards to defend or deny the actions of BATFE, look forward to a new attack on your rights and privacy, both by rogue law enforcement agents and members of Congress.