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06.30.09 LEGISLATURE GOES HOME |
Late last night, the Oregon legislature adjourned "sine
die." "Sine die" is Latin
for "let's take a few months off and then come back
and raise whatever taxes and fees we overlooked since January."
Those Latins were very efficient with language.
This session is over. In normal times, Oregonians would not
have to fear for a greater loss of money and liberty until 2011,
but the days of our bi-annual session seem to be almost certainly,
just a happy memory. The legislators will be returning
to the Capitol in February.
As you know, in the last hours of the session, the Oregon legislature
voted to expand the Brady Bill by forcing us into compliance
with HR 2640, an NRA -backed gun control bill passed in the
wake of the Virginia Tech shootings.
Interestingly, the NRA chose not to support the Oregon bill,
HB
2853,
(pdf) but they also refused to oppose it. Their
"neutrality" on the bill created some cover for legislators
who promote themselves as pro-gun. (In all fairness, they all
promote themselves as pro-gun, which in some cases is quite
humorous.)
HB 2853 will soon be law. The inaccurate databases that so often
prevent legitimate gun sales will increase. The data-mining
will continue. For a complete count of who voted to protect
your rights in the Senate, click here.
To see if your House Rep voted to protect your privacy click
here.
There is no question that gun owners suffered a defeat on HB
2853. But while we lost that battle, your efforts made
the bill far less bad than it was when it started. The bill
was amended over 10 times. Many people who would have been unfairly
ensnared by it are somewhat safer. People will no longer be
considered a "danger" to themselves because they are
"mentally retarded" and while far from being a good
bill, much was done to reduce the damage this bill will do.
It is impressive how many legislators actually stood up for
your rights and privacy and voted "no". You can rest
assured that this vote will be used against them in the next
election.
Campaign mail will go out saying that legislators who
voted "no" on the bill were helping mentally ill people
get guns to commit massacres across our state. Knowing that,
it took a lot of courage to cast a principled vote. We're pleased
so many did. But keep one thing in mind; we only got the good
votes we got because of your activism. Your constant contact,
your e-mails and phone calls are entirely responsible for the
many votes we actually did get against this problematic legislation.
For that, we are extremely grateful.
We know how hard you worked this session. Many of you forwarded
your e-mails and the responses. We are proud to have the most
active, informed members in the history of gun rights in Oregon.
Thank you. And even though we lost this skirmish, your
willingness to step up brought us victories in an environment
where few thought we could make progress on gun rights.
Because of your communications, and only because of
them, we were able to pass SB
603. (pdf)
SB 603 addressed three different issues in Oregon law.
First, SB 603 finally gave us a legal definition for the term
"readily accessible" for the purposes of transporting
a handgun in an automobile. Present law provides no such definition,
so people passing through our state really had no way of knowing
if they were obeying the law. And neither did the police.
What is "readily accessible" in a Mini-Cooper ?
Without a definition, motorists were always at risk of arrest
and prosecution simply for trying to go from one place to another
with a handgun. Now we have a clear (and good) definition. This
is long overdue.
But SB 603 did more. It corrected an error in current law that
allows a person who had a felony conviction to not only petition
the courts for the right to buy a firearm, but also
to own a firearm.
That's right. Under current law, you can go to court and ask
to have your rights restored to buy a gun, but you're not allowed
to own it! This has now been corrected. The bill
also addresses another problem with current law.
Under Oregon statutes, a person who has only one felony conviction,
which did not involve a homicide or a weapons charge, has his
rights restored 15 years after the end of his probation or parole.
But a careful reading of the law reveals that while that person
can no longer be charged as a "felon in possession"
they can still be charged with a misdemeanor crime of unlawful
possession of a firearm.
While 603 does not completely reverse that error, it does make
clear that a person who successfully petitions for a restoration
of rights, gets all rights back. He cannot be charged
with either "felon in possession" or a misdemeanor
charge of "unlawful possession."
In a legislative session dominated by anti-gunners in both Houses
and with an anti-gun governor, this was unexpected progress,
but none of it would have happened without your constant efforts
to make legislators "see the light."
Of course, our efforts to pass a clean and straightforward bill
to protect the privacy of CHL holders was thwarted by one freshman
House Rep. Judy
Steigler managed to convince the House Judiciary
Committee to take a strong bill that kept your private records
private, and turn it into a roadmap for revealing this information.
Luckily, at least for now, most sheriffs
seem determined to keep that information out of the hands of
anti-gun media outlets. For that we praise them, but a law would
be better. This issue is NOT over. We will continue to
work to ensure that private information, given as a result of
a demand by the law, does not fall into the hands of people
who would use this information to harm gun owners.
As the summer begins, we are thankful the legislature has wrapped
up, some progress was made, and most damage contained.
Your efforts, as always, were key to our ability to keep a largely
anti-gun legislature mostly in check. Thank you for all
you do, and your continued support.
Have a safe and happy summer.
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© 2000 - 2010, Oregon Firearms Federation. All Rights Reserved.
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