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OFF ALERT 04.25.07 HB 2334 PASSES OUT OF COMMITTEE |
You made your voices heard, and once again, it worked.
In its original form, HB
2334 contained several provisions that were a danger to
gun owners and confusing for law enforcement. But today, after
you made your feelings known, the bill was amended to address
all the concerns we had about it. What's even better, the bill
contains provisions we have been working towards since last
session.
If this bill makes it through the full House and then the Senate,
active duty military personnel will be able to renew concealed
handgun licenses by mail, a goal we have been working towards
for two years.
As amended, the bill more
specifically defines "residency" for purposes of obtaining
a CHL and prohibits persons who have been dishonorably discharged
from the military or are registered sex offenders from gaining
CHL's. The prohibition would also be extended to people who
have had two convictions for possessing marijuana.
The sections that address the marijuana convictions are a bit
complicated, but they state that only one conviction for a marijuana
violation does NOT disqualify a license applicant. The exception
would be a person who has both a conviction, and has been
through a court supervised "diversion" program.
These programs are sometimes offered to persons who have been
convicted, and if completed allow the conviction to disappear.
So if, after a person has completed one of these programs they
have a subsequent violation, they can be denied a CHL.
However, all the vague language that referred to mere "reports"
by police about drug use have been removed, and other sections
that were subject to misinterpretation and abuse have been stripped
from the bill. This and the inclusion of the military renewal
language were clear victories for your activism.
On another note, we told you in an alert on 4.21.07
that there are very well founded rumors that the Port of Portland
may be attempting to use another bill to expand the powers they
were denied when your response (apparently) killed HB
2852.
While we have been unable to get a confirmation, the best information
we have now indicates that the bill that may be used is HB
2890, a bill which creates a crime of having a handcuff
key. We believe that this bill may be "gut and stuffed"
with the language the Port's Police want to expand their power.
This bill is currently scheduled to be heard this Friday.
Several Capitol insiders have informed us that there is extensive
talk of a "deal" where the Port will rescind its illegal
"no-guns" policy in exchange for this power expansion.
If that's true, that's fine with us. All we have demanded all
along is that they obey the law. However, unless there is an
unequivocal elimination of the illegal ordinance, we are still
opposed. Vague promises of future action are not enough.
We are having important and significant victories but please
take the time to contact the House Judiciary Committee one more
time and tell them "no" to any "deal" that
does not fully remove the illegal Port policy.
Contact info and a sample message follows:
House
Judiciary Committee.
___________________________________________________________________________
Dear Representative,
I have received a report that there may be an attempt to "gut
and stuff" a bill to allow the Port of Portland Police
to expand their powers. As you know, this very idea was rejected
when they attempted it in HB 2852.
I urge you not to make any "deals" with the Port of
Portland until it rescinds its illegal "no-gun" policy.
Very truly yours,
__________________________________
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© 2000 - 2008, Oregon Firearms Federation. All Rights Reserved.
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