By Paul Lathrop |Contributing Editor
Oregon gun owners are facing a very tough legislative battle this year, with many bills that would directly infringe on Second Amendment rights up for consideration in both the House and Senate, where the Democrat majorities could pass the whole package.
According to Kevin Starrett, head of the Oregon Firearms Federation, among the worst proposals is one that would “treat what are commonly called 80% lowers as though they were completed firearms, and ban what they are calling ‘undetectable firearms.’”
“Their definition of undetectable firearms is so absurd that frankly, we are not even really worried about that,” Starrett said. “We are far more concerned about the treatment of what they are calling ‘unfinished receivers’ because the definition of that is vague enough that, well, that could be almost anything.”
Starrett said most people who build their own firearms do so with unfinished receivers, which is what the legislature wants to control. The proposed legislation would treat an unfinished receiver just the same as a firearm.
“When I looked at the legislation, it didn’t appear that it required that that piece of plastic or metal contained a serial number,” he explained, “and so how those things can be identified, the bill seems to say that dealer would have to describe it. Which is typical Oregon legislative comedy, right? It doesn’t even make any sense.”
Another bill would eliminate state-level preemption of firearms laws. If it were to pass and be signed by anti-gun Gov. Kate Brown, each municipality would have the ability to craft gun laws for themselves.
“You couldn’t drive from one city to the next without being a felon many times over,” Starrett said. “You could no longer go to an airport, for example, to pick up a friend or family member.”
One more example of a misguided law, in his opinion, is the “permit to purchase” proposal that would force someone who wanted to purchase any firearm to have a license, something never before required. This license would not be permanent but would have to be re-purchased from time to time and would require virtually the same training required to get a concealed carry license in the state.
The law would also require training from “The National Firearms Association,” an entity that does not currently exist.
“The whole thing was crafted by drunken monkeys at the behest of drunken monkeys, but it’s extremely dangerous,” Starrett observed.
The Oregon legislature currently has a Democrat “super-majority” in both the House and the Senate, meaning that not a single Republican vote is needed to make any of the proposed legislation law.
Last year, Republicans staged both the House and Senate’s simultaneous walkout to prevent a quorum and stopped anti-gun legislation from being enacted. This year that move isn’t certain to happen.
“As far as a walkout, that is the single, the only thing that Republicans can do to block legislation,” Starrett explained.
“The other thing that could happen,” he continued, “and something I have been pushing now for about 10 years, is to have the counties, which are controlled by county commissioners and are their own entities, to start standing up to the legislature and just saying ‘This isn’t going to happen.’ That is the last hope for this state. If the Republicans do not walk out of the Legislature, if the County Commissioners do not stand up to the abuse from Portland liberals, Oregon will be unlivable within a year. It’s already pretty bad.
“Portland has been on the forefront of that we’ve had violence in our streets, police being firebombed, businesses being destroyed, and the mayor, the governor, the Speaker of the house has (sic) been promoting this kind of behavior,” he noted. “There is no reason to believe that there is anything hopeful as far as a political solution.”
Starrett said Republicans in the House and Senate can still walk out if they choose, but whether they will would be speculation.
“It’s very costly for them,” he said, “because when they do that, they can be arrested, so they have to leave the state. How do you do that and still care for your family? How do you do that if you have a business to run?”
“What we are experiencing right now is no longer politics,” Starrett warned. “What we are experiencing now is… we’ve been in a revolutionary stage…at least since Trump got elected, but in the last year, it’s gotten very hot and violent. There is no reason to believe there is a political solution. The only hope that we can give people is the hope that they take (care of) themselves by being prepared for what’s coming, and you gotta do that on a local level. “
“We do see counties standing up,” he said. “We do see sheriffs standing up, we do see people recognizing more and more that their normal means of communication, like social media, are being shut down, and so they are having to find alternatives. And they are having to do things like communicating with their neighbors (and ask) are they making preparations? Are they learning first aid? That kind of thing. As far as a political solution? No, there is absolutely no hope.”
