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SB 1008 HAS FIRST HEARING |
SB
1008 received its first hearing
in the Senate Judiciary Committee this morning. It became obvious
that there are still people in positions of power who don't
understand current law or the potential changes being proposed
by this bill.
The bill now has some amendments that clarify how a firearm
may be transported on a motorcycle, but make virtually everything
else incomprehensible.
We suggest you take a look at this bill
and see if you understand it. Even the attorney who drafted
it admits it's "complicated."
The bill essentially reverses the clarifications we made in
2009 with Senate Bill
603. Prior to 603's enactment, the law said a person
with a felony conviction could go before a court and request
restoration of the right to buy a gun. But the law still
prohibited them from owning it.
After many attempts to explain that this made no sense, Senator
Floyd Prozanski finally asked that a correction to this
error be amended into another bill we requested that clarified
the term "readily accessible" for purposes of transporting
a handgun in a vehicle.
When 603 passed, it seemed we had clarified an area of Oregon
gun law misunderstood by many people including politicians and
DA's. But now Prozanski is saying that he did not understand
the changes he himself requested, and has introduced an incredibly
complicated and difficult to understand bill to reverse much
of 603.
Under 1008, no one will be allowed to ask for restoration of
rights until 15 years after they are off parole or probation.
And if your "felony" involved giving a firearm to
a family member who lived in another state, you can NEVER ask
for rights restoration.
Let's say your daughter moves out of the house. You want her
to have some protection so you give her one of your firearms.
But, wait, your daughter moved to Washington or Idaho. Now you
and your daughter are both felons. Under this law, you and she
will NEVER be allowed to appear before a judge and make a case
to have your rights restored. It's absurd.
During the hearing Prozanski claimed that he was aware that
there was a "flaw" in this bill BEFORE the Governor
signed it. He never explained why NO ONE simply asked
the Governor to veto it.
In e-mails to voters, Prozanski has claimed that OFF has chosen
to distribute "inaccurate information." This is false.
He claimed that OFF and NRA agreed to allow this bill to move
forward. This is also false.
He has also claimed that "Every other gun owner that I
talked to about the error in SB 603 said they agreed that felons
should not be able to immediately petition the court for their
guns rights"
But OFF has copies of many e-mails from gun owners that were
sent to Prozanski saying the exact opposite, that they supported
a law that allowed a person to go to court to make a case for
restoration, which is all 603 did. So while Senator Prozanski
has told people that we are "distributing inaccurate information"
it is in fact Prozanski who cannot keep the facts straight.
This bill is scheduled for another public hearing and possible
"work session" next Thursday at 8am. Please
contact the Senate Judiciary Committee and urge them not to
overturn 603 with a bill few will understand. And if anyone
tells you that OFF is not telling the whole unvarnished truth,
please let us know so we can set the record straight,
Contact info and sample message follow:
SENATE JUDICIARY.
Floyd Prozanski CHAIR
sen.floydprozanski@state.or.us
900 Court St. NE, S-417, Salem, OR, 97301
503-986 -1704
Brian Boquist Vice Chair
sen.brianboquist@state.or.us
900 Court St. NE., S-305, Salem, OR, 97301
503-986-1712
Susanne Bonamici
sen.suzannebonamici@state.or.us
900 Court St. NE., S-403, Salem, OR, 97301
503-986-1717
Jackie Dingfelder
sen.jackiedingfelder@state.or.us
900 Court St. NE., S-407, Salem, OR, 97301
503-986-1723
Doug Whitsett
sen.dougwhitsett@state.or.us
900 Court St. NE., S-303, Salem, OR, 97301
503-986-1728
__________________________________________________________________
Dear Senator,
SB 1008 is a dangerous and complicated answer to a problem that
may not exist. I urge you not to reverse the corrections made
by SB 603 with a bill few people will understand. Everyone
agrees that this bill will need more work in the future. Why
not wait until you have a full session to examine the issues
before passing a bill that will make a person who had a technical
violation of an arcane gun law ineligible from requesting rights
restoration forever?
I urge you to leave SB 603 in place until 2011 when if there
actually are problems, they can be examined and dealt with.
Sincerely yours,
_____________________
____________________________________________________________________
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© 2000 - 2010, Oregon Firearms Federation. All Rights Reserved.
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