Safety or Propaganda?
On March 7th at 3PM the Senate Education Committee is scheduled to hear SB 551.
Senate Bill 551, in its original, unamended form “Requires school districts to provide specified information related to secure storage of medications and firearms. Directs Oregon Health Authority to make information available to school districts.”
The bill makes no mention of what that “specified information” is.
It makes no mention of who determines what “specified information” will be provided.
There is no indication that anyone with professional knowledge of firearms and their proper storage will be consulted in the creation or distribution of the “specified information.”
In 2021 Oregon Democrats rammed through SB 554 which mandated that self defense firearms be locked up and useless. It required the use of dangerous trigger locks and it prohibited persons under 18 from having access to family firearms to protect themselves in their own home, no matter how well trained and responsible they were.
This ignorant one-size-fits-all policy has placed people in danger of both criminal attack and criminal penalties.
Now the same people who enacted this dangerous legislation want to use schools to promote an anti-gun, anti-self defense agenda.
The bill states “… the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic have exacerbated troubling trends with children and firearms…” but ignores the reality that state programs of lockdowns and isolation are the root cause of the problem and makes no effort to address those issues.
Responsible firearms owners store their firearms in a manner that makes the most sense for their personal circumstances. Democrats in Oregon have interfered with their ability to do so and put them at risk.
We believe that amendments may be added to this bill but in a Democrat controlled legislature we do not anticipate that amendments will improve it.
If the state is going to mandate that schools provide information on the storage of firearms, the state should also mandate that schools provide students with non-biased and professional information on the safe handling of firearms, a suggestion Oregon Democrats regularly resist.
Please take a moment to let the Senate Eduction Committee hear from you.
To register to testify on this bill use this link:
https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2023R1/Committees/SED/2023-03-07-15-00/Agenda
(Click on “Register to Testify” to the right of SB 551)
To Submit written testimony use this link:
https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2023R1/Testimony/SED/SB/551?area=Measures