CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb predicted last fall that gun control would spread like a cancer, and he was right., as new anti-gun efforts have been launched in Oregon. (Dave Workman)
Last fall, when Second Amendment groups joined forces to fight a gun control initiative in Washington, they said the fight was to “stop this nonsense before it spreads like a cancer to other states.”
The measure, Initiative 1639, did pass, and as Alan Gottlieb, chairman of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms predicted, the cancer is spreading to neighboring Oregon.
There, a group led by Portland-area clergy is spearheading a renewed effort to completely ban so-called “assault weapons” in the Beaver State, as reported by KATU.
At the same time, lawmakers in the state capitol at Salem are considering legislation to raise the minimum age for purchasing “assault weapons” to 21.
Digging in for a fight is the Oregon Firearms Federation (OFF), which declared in a statement this week, “For decades we have listened to the lies of the gun grabbers saying they only want “common sense” gun laws, and they don’t want to take guns away from law abiding people. Now the mask is off and there is no denying they want to eliminate private ownership of firearms.”
According to KATU, the Lift Every Voice Oregon anti-gun group claims to have 100 leaders in the state including bishops, imams, elected officials, heads of organizations, business leaders” and, allegedly, gun groups. Last year, this group tried to get a measure on the Oregon ballot to outright ban semi-auto rifles, but the language needed to be re-written by court ruling, and the effort was withdrawn. But now they are back, emboldened by what happened in neighboring Washington.
OFF is warning that Oregon Democrats are pushing extremist proposals.
“If the Democrats have their way,” OFF insisted, “virtually all modern firearms will be outlawed. You will need a background check to buy ammo and be limited to 20 rounds a month! Your guns will have to be locked up and useless, and you might very well be charged with a crime if a gun you own is stolen. You will need police permission to buy a gun and then you can only buy one handgun and one long gun per month. After waiting for a month or more to get permission from the sheriff he can still say ‘no.’”
OFF is alluding to SB 501, sponsored by state Sen. Rob Wagner, a liberal Democrat endorsed by anti-gun billionaire Michael Bloomberg’s Everytown for Gun Safety. As reported earlier this week, this legislation would require gun owners to get a permit to purchase or receive a firearm, mandates gun locks or safe storage, outlaws magazines that hold more than five rounds, requires background checks for ammunition purchases and limits such purchases to 20 rounds every 30 days, and sets a 14-day waiting period on firearms transfers.
The Pacific Northwest is being used like a test tube to see what works, what doesn’t and how far the gun prohibition agenda can be pushed, say rights activists in both states. Legislatures in Oregon and Washington, along with both governors’ offices, are dominated by Democrats whose leadership is drifting ever farther to the left. They are increasingly convinced of their political invulnerability, and that only prompts them to push even further.
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