It’s a bare-knuckles battle in the Beaver State as Second Amendment activists are fully engaged in a fight to prevent Senate Bill 978 from becoming law.
The sweeping gun control measure is getting attention from the National Rifle Association, which alerted its Oregon members Wednesday to keep the pressure on lawmakers in Salem.
Under the measure, according to the Oregon Firearms Federation (OFF), the state would end up becoming a “patchwork of back alley gun control laws” that would “eliminate Oregon’s pre-emption statute.” The grassroots gun rights group also asserted in an alert to its members that, if it passes, SB 978 “would make you a felon if you traveled anywhere near any public building that chose to prohibit firearms, even if you had a concealed handgun license.”
The NRA alert contends that the measure would “Impose a one-size-fits-all government solution for firearm storage and require them to be made unavailable for self-defense.” The organization also said that gun theft victims would be “further victimized” with criminal penalties if their stolen gun were used in a crime unless the gun owner promptly reports the loss to police.
The Oregon group is also concerned that many firearms made before 1968, because they lack serial numbers, would be automatically illegal and possession could turn gun owners into criminals.
The fee would be raised for a concealed handgun license, the NRA added. One other problem NRA and OFF have with the measure is that it could effectively end home-building of firearms, which has been a tradition in this country for generations.
Local governments will also be able to expand so-called “gun-free zones,” which seem to experience an inordinate number of mass shootings.
According to a social media post from Oregon NRA liaison Keely Hopkins, the legislation has been sent to the Senate Rules Committee rather than directly to the Senate floor for debate. This will give gun owners additional time to contact their state senators, but it could also mean more amendments added to the legislation.
With strong Democrat majorities in both houses of the Legislature, gun control has been high on the agenda, especially for delegates from the Portland area and lower Willamette Valley.
