By Dave Workman
Senior Editor
An anti-gun congressman, Oregon’s most outspoken state lawmaker and a high school teacher-turned-gun-control-advocate quickly surfaced in the wake of the tragic Reynolds High School shooting in Troutdale to push the gun control agenda.
Oregon State Sen. Ginny Burdick, described by the Portland Oregonian as “the Legislature’s most vocal advocate for stricter gun laws,” said the parents of the Reynolds High School shooter “should be held criminally responsible for the death of Emilio Hoffman.”
Hoffman was the 14-year-old student killed at the Troutdale high school on June 10. The shooter, Jared Michael Padgett, reportedly brought the two guns he carried, an AR-15 rifle and a handgun, after removing it from what authorities described as “secure storage” at home.
However, Burdick, a liberal Portland Democrat, insisted, “Those guns weren’t secured.” She called the firearms “weapons of war.”
She may get some support from Reynolds High School teacher Seth Needler, a Portland resident, who is using his personal experience to demand what might be seen as extremist gun control. In a Facebook post highlighted by the Portland Oregonian, Needler had this to say:
“To buy a gun, you need 3 letters of recommendation: One from a family member, one from a friend, and one from a co-worker. If your family doesn’t trust you, you have no friends, and your co-workers don’t know you well enough to trust you, then you shouldn’t be able to own a gun.
“I also think prospective gun owners should have to undergo a rigorous gun-safety training, submit to a background check, and meet an age limit, but I’m not an idealist. I think the above is something that every common sense person should be able to agree with. I’m not a lawyer or politician, so I’m sure my idea will be mocked for its naiveté, criticized for its lack of practicality when not even much weaker rules can get a hearing in Congress, and ignored in any case, since no one takes gun control seriously in America.
“However, I intend tomorrow to begin contacting my representatives in government. I’m going to ask them to sign on to a pledge called the ‘No Gun Pledge.’ Like the no tax pledge that all the conservatives sign on to, this pledge would say: ‘I will never vote for any legislation that relaxes or weakens gun regulations, or increases access to guns, or makes it easier to bring military assault-style weapons to market’.”
Possibly one of his first contacts was Congressman Earl Blumenauer, another Portland Democrat representing the state’s Third District. In a Twitter message sent the day of the shooting, he stated, “Another shooting. I always hope tragedy will inspire action. Simple common sense steps make difference. Start w/universal background checks.”
That brought a swift reaction from a man named Jeffery Reynolds – ironically the same name as the high school – who told Blumenauer, “You disgust me. You have no facts and you jump in to take advantage of a tragedy for cheap political points.”
Burdick was quoted predicting that the shooting will likely revive a push for background checks on “nearly all private gun sales” when the Legislature convenes in Salem. But Burdick, and presumably Blumenauer, both know that this incident, just like the attack at Thurston High School in Springfield – a community located just east of Eugene – in 1998 could not have been prevented by a background check.
Padgett took the guns from where they were stored in his own home. There was no background check involved in that. Kinkel brought guns from his home, after murdering his parents.
An initiative in neighboring Washington, touting so-called “universal background checks” also would not have prevented the Reynolds attack had it been the law in Oregon, because it contains a narrow exemption for immediate family members.
Likewise, a so-called “safe storage” law probably would not have prevented this crime because the authorities have publicly stated that the guns Padgett carried were removed from “secure storage.”
Two days after the attack, Reynolds High’s senior class graduated and in the process did not attempt to exploit the tragedy that happened in their school. Instead, they shared a moment of silence for their slain schoolmate.
