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Port of Portland Makes Its Own Rules |
Gun owners are expected to follow the rules whether they like
it or not. The penalties for deciding to make your own laws
up can be quite severe. But for some reason the same does not
apply to schools who violate the law or to the Port of Portland
and the Port of Portland Police.
If you have the misfortune to be forced to visit the
Portland Oregon Airport, you will be confronted by numerous
signs warning you that you may not be in possession of a firearm
while you are in the airport terminal.
Because Oregon law is clear that only the state legislature
may restrict concealed carry of handguns by license holders,
we were curious about this rule. Where does the Port of Portland
get the authority to restrict concealed carry (outside of the
security checkpoint)?
The plain language of the law follows:
AUTHORITY TO REGULATE FIREARMS
166.170 State preemption. (1) Except as expressly authorized
by state statute, the authority to regulate in any matter whatsoever
the sale, acquisition, transfer, ownership, possession, storage,
transportation or use of firearms or any element relating to
firearms and components thereof, including ammunition, is vested
solely in the Legislative Assembly.
(2) Except as expressly authorized by state statute, no county,
city or other municipal corporation or district may enact civil
or criminal ordinances, including but not limited to zoning
ordinances, to regulate, restrict or prohibit the sale, acquisition,
transfer, ownership, possession, storage, transportation or
use of firearms or any element relating to firearms and components
thereof, including ammunition. Ordinances that are
contrary to this subsection are void. [1995 s.s.
c.1 §1]
We felt this was not too complicated. After all,
the sentence we've underlined above would appear to be self-explanatory.
So we contacted the Port of Portland Police and spoke to Sgt.
Barris. He informed us that license holders were prohibited
from the airport terminal, "just like they were from schools."
Of course, that's nonsense. License holders are NOT prohibited
from schools. (See our "Guns
in Schools" report)
So we got a copy of the Port of Portland's ordinance. It can
be viewed here.
As you can see, the ordinance starts by addressing only "unconcealed"
firearms, but quickly covers all firearms. No exceptions are
allowed for people with concealed handgun licenses.
It does not take a legal scholar to determine that this is clearly
in violation of the unambiguous language of Oregon law, reproduced
above. So we contacted the Port of Portland Chief of Police,
Phil Klahn. Our e-mail to him can be viewed
here.
We did not hear back from the Chief. Instead, we received a
voice mail from Barbara Jacobson, a lawyer for the Port of Portland.
She left word that the law we quoted did not apply to the Port
of Portland. She mentioned that she was giving our name to the
Department of Homeland Security, and noted our desire to "carry
our gun in the terminal."
Now, at this point it must be mentioned that at NO time did
we ever discuss an intention to carry a gun in the terminal,
although it is clearly legal.
We called her back of course, but from that time on, she would
not return calls. So, we sent a letter to the Chief, once again
asking him to clarify his position rather than have a lawyer
call us.
Our letter to the Chief can be viewed here.
We got this e-mail in response.
We wrote back.
Not long thereafter, we got a letter
from lawyer Jacobson. It was lengthy. It explained why she did
not believe the above mentioned Oregon law applied to the Port
of Portland.
At that point we contacted House Rep. Wayne Scott and asked
him to check with the lawyers who actually wrote the law, Oregon's
Legislative Counsel. We wanted their opinion about what the
law they drafted meant. Scott checked with them, and they responded.
You can read their response here.
This letter states in no uncertain terms that the Port of Portland
is breaking the rules.
So we wrote back to Jacobson, enclosed a copy of the letter
from Legislative Counsel and asked her to explain the apparent
contradictions between her interpretation of the law and the
clear language of Oregon statute, as reiterated by Oregon's
Legislative Counsel. That letter can be viewed
here.
The final piece of correspondence can be view here.
It is a letter from Chief Klahn informing us that he plans to
continue enforcing a rule which violates Oregon law.
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© 2000 - 2008, Oregon Firearms Federation. All Rights Reserved.
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