The take over of the Oregon and US Legislatures by Democrats have gun owners wondering what to expect in the coming two years.
In the past, Democrats both locally and nationally, have made no secret of their disdain for gun owners.
The new leadership in the US Congress has militant anti-gunner Nancy Pelosi as the new House Speaker, and Charles Schumer as the number three man in the Senate. There is no one in US Politics who hates gun owners more than Schumer.
The Oregon Senate has Peter Courtney as Senate President, and Kate Brown as Majority Leader. Both are well known for their anti-gun sentiments.
In the last session, Courtney refused to allow a bill which would have allowed active duty military, deployed away from home, to renew concealed handgun licenses by mail, to even get a hearing.
He and Brown both voted to destroy gun shows in 1999, in a bill which ultimately failed.
The almost certain Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, (which hears most gun bills) will be Ginny Burdick, whose entire career in politics has been built on anti-gun bills.
The new Oregon House Speaker is Jeff Merkley.
Merkley voted against a bill which would have ended baseless, politically motivated lawsuits against gun dealers.
The likely head of the House Judiciary will be Greg MacPherson.
MacPherson also voted against protections for gun dealers in 2005, in one of the few pro-gun bills to reach the floor for a vote.
So what should gun owners expect? As always, a fight.
While there are some Democrats that recognize that the Democratic take-over was the result of voters weary of Republicans who did not deliver, in both Oregon and DC, leadership is still composed of ideologues who believe you should be disarmed.
As a result, gun owners should be prepared for a battle as the Burdicks and Schumers of the world are rewarded by their parties with regular consideration of their most extreme proposals. (Last session, Burdick proposed 10 years in jail and a quarter of a million dollar fine for possession of a modern rifle or shotgun.)
While we are anticipating an avalanche of anti-gun bills, we are certain that a bill to outlaw defensive firearms on school grounds and anywhere schoolchildren gather, will be one of the first out of the box.
The ultra-liberal Oregon Education Association, Oregon’s most powerful special interest group, will be supporting this, as always, and you can bet that Democrats will want to reward them for their huge contributions by passing it.
The people who claim to have the best interests of children at heart will be working overtime to ensure that they will be defenseless when the next school shooting takes place. You can expect that the rest of the public school establishment will pile on.
Teachers who really care about kids, and want to be able to protect them, will be silenced and shunned. Responsible adults who pick up and drop off their children at school will be facing arrest if they are equipped to defend their kids against predators. Look for this bill early. Democrat Burdick has made passing this dangerous and senseless legislation her principle mission in life.
But gun owners should not forget that in 1999, it was Republicans who attempted to ram through a bill to end private transfers of firearms, both at gun shows and in some cases even in your own home.
Kevin Mannix, Neil Bryant and Brady Adams, all Republicans,did their best to saddle gun owners with HB 2535 and almost succeeded. Even the NRA refused to oppose the bill and, with OFF leading the fight, it was eventually killed by only one vote. So it’s important for gun owners to understand that party lines do not always tell the story.
There are pro-gun Democrats in both Houses of Oregon’s legislature. The real question is, how much will leadership punish them for standing up for your rights? This remains to be seen.
The safest position any gun owner can take right now is to be very aware of the risks we face.
Given what history has taught us, we know that freedom can disappear at any time. It would not be wise to wait on the acquisition of anything that might be banned in the future.
If you make preparations now, while you can, and nothing bad happens, you have not lost anything. If the worst does happen and you were unprepared, there will be little you can do.
There will be battles over gun rights. That much is certain. What is also certain is that you need to be in them. Elected officials still care about what you think. After all you hired them.
Make sure you’re engaged, make sure you’re informed, and make sure your voice is heard. Together, as in the past, we can win. We just have to fight.
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