01.11.2022
As you know, in the last legislative session the Oregon Legislature passed SB 554.
This bill required that you keep your self defense firearms locked up and useless, held you responsible for the misuse of stolen firearms, prohibited your trained minor children from defending themselves in your home and banned the licensed carry of firearms in the Capitol, the Portland Airport, and any school that wanted to bar you from their property.
Now, we have learned that Oregon House Rep. Greg Smith is introducing a bill to repeal SB 554.
Greg Smith
That’s the bad news.
The fact is, Smith’s proposed bill has a zero percent chance of passing. That’s zero with a “z.”
But it has an enormous chance of being turned into another anti-gun monster. That’s because the “relating clause” of the bill says “Relating to Firearms.”
While the final version of a bill must still comport to its relating clause, every single word can be stripped out and replaced with completely different language.
That means that this bill, whatever it says now, can be completely rewritten into whatever the Democrats want, as long as it still relates to “firearms.” Just imagine the damage they can do.
But why introduce a bill with no chance of passage when it can be abused by the people in power? Well, because this is a “short” session, legislators will be limited to how many bills each one can introduce. Whatever Smith’s intentions, this bill becomes a free extra bill for the anti-gun Democrats to “gut and stuff” and turn into another anti-gun nightmare.
Smith is the longest serving member of the House. He is not a newbie. He is not a freshman. He knows how this game is played. Smith MUST immediately demand that the bill draft be corrected so the relating clause cannot be used to turn this into another fiasco, or he MUST withdraw his bill.
He has the power to direct the lawyers who write the drafts and the relating clauses to fix this. NOW.
Please contact Smith and tell him to correct the relating clause to eliminate the chance for it to be gut and stuffed, or withdraw this pointless legislation.
Greg Smith:
Rep.GregSmith@oregonlegislature.gov
503-986-1457
Please tell Smith to demand a change in the “relating clause” to LC 111 or withdraw it immediately .