One More Attack Moves Forward
05.12.2025
The Senate Rules Committee heard SB 243A today.
The bill bans “rapid fire” devices (many of which are already illegal) creates yet another waiting period after the endless ones that will be in effect with 114, and vastly expands the places that are off limits to CHL holders.
It was the usual collection of lies, misinformation, and invented and meaningless statistics reinforced by the army of red shirted Karens bussed in to share their mutual ignorance.
If you attempted to watch it, you have our sympathies.
While the Chair of the committee can be forgiven for being hard to understand, (English is a second language to him) James Manning has no such excuse.
Manning cannot complete a thought without mentioning that he was “in the military”, claims to have been a “police officer” (something we have never been able to confirm) and reminds us that he has “shot a lot of guns.” (Ok, he cannot complete a thought period.)
But while Manning has a firmly established reputation for painfully low intellect, his rambling and incoherent blather today shot off the charts for stupidity.
Humans have not yet invented the words to describe the sheer magnitude of how mindless this man is.
Aside from the fact that he had no idea what was in the bill he was discussing, and aside from the fact that much of what he said was pure fabrication, his comments about women having the means to defend themselves against abusers was astonishingly ignorant and insulting. We will not try to reproduce it here because you would think we were making it up. But you can see it here.
Senators Broadman and Prozanski came to support the bill and neither of them has a clue about what they are legislating. Prozanksi’s twisted (and wrong) explanation of what “rapid fire” devices entail was matched only by Broadman’s inability to name a single example of a CHL holder shooting up a city council meeting.
But neither could come close to Manning for sheer witlessness. That this man is voting on bills that will attack our freedoms is terrifying.
The submitted testimony is running 1259 against and 175 in favor and the legislative website wrongly attributes several opposing submissions to the “support” column. These are useful numbers as we are reminded to “make our voices heard.”
In fact, this morning, House Rep Jeff Helfrich sent out an email saying “ This bill is a SERIOUS THREAT to your freedoms, and it could pass unless YOU stand up RIGHT NOW.” And “The Senate Committee on Rules is meeting TODAY, and we need you to ACT NOW. Register to testify in person or submit written testimony IMMEDIATELY.”
What was most unusual about this email was that it did not direct readers to his fundraising page as virtually all of his almost daily emails do.
But even more interesting was a recent video Helfrich posted. In this video “Helfrich sits down with his mentor, Mike Reese—former Multnomah Sheriff, Portland Police Chief, and now Oregon Corrections Director. From their shared days as deputies to Mike’s decades of service, hear how he’s kept communities at the heart of law enforcement through every challenge.”
What did not get discussed in this conversation with Helfrich’s “mentor” was Mike Reese’s ardent commitment to disarming civilians and his close association for years with militant anti-gun groups. Helfrich won’t mention it so we will.
This very dangerous bill is due for a work session on Wednesday at 1pm in Senate Rules. Two amendments are being considered, the -7 and -9 amendments.
Amended or not this bill is a vicious attack on the most law abiding Oregonians. We keep being lectured to “make our voices heard.” Well we HAVE made our voices heard. When will the Republicans take a stand and stop this insanity?