Oregon lawmakers consider new gun legislation

By PETER WONG
Oregon Capital Bureau

Gun bills are back on the agenda of the Oregon Legislature this year.

The bills were scheduled for a public hearing Wednesday night, March 22, by the House Judiciary Committee, which plans to deal with them on March 28.

But unlike legislation approved two years ago, one of the lawmakers involved in crafting the new bills is Rep. Paul Evans of Monmouth, a military veteran of 20 years and just one of three Democrats in the House who voted against the 2021 law. (One Democrat did so in the Senate.)

In brief, the package would:

• Ban the sale, manufacture and importation of so-called ghost guns with homemade parts that are untraceable (House Bill 2005).
• Raise the age of legal purchase and possession of firearms from 18 to 21, but allow exceptions for hunting and shooting (House Bill 2006).
• Extend to cities, counties and special districts the authority that the 2021 Legislature granted to public schools, community colleges and universities to regulate or bar firearms from their buildings and grounds, including people with concealed-handgun licenses (House Bill 2007). The 2021 law also barred firearms from the Capitol in Salem and the passenger terminal at Portland International Airport, where boarding areas and luggage handling already fall under federal rules.

 

Evans said he was asked to get involved in crafting a state response to mass shootings elsewhere last year, notably the deaths of 10 Black people at a supermarket in Buffalo, N.Y., and 19 children and two adults at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.

“I would not support a bill that did not respect individual liberty, even as it provides greater public safety,” said Evans, a five-term representative who has served two stints in Kuwait and Afghanistan while in the Air National Guard. He also was a military aide to Gov. Ted Kulongoski from 2007 to 2010.

“But because we can’t do everything, it doesn’t mean we can’t do some things. The something we are going to do is to bring rationality to gun ownership. I think this package is a good balance between making sure people have the full spectrum of rights they deserve, and at the same time, taking real action to try to prevent needless death and the shootings we have seen become a tragedy in our country.”

Evans said he has drawn support from gun owners who may not like regulation “but they want clear steps to keep people safe.”

‘Always a charged conversation’

Rep. Dacia Grayber, D-Tigard, is a firefighter and paramedic with Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue who moderated the presentation of the bills prior to the committee hearing.

“I have no illusions that this is always a very charged conversation” when firearms are the issue, she said. (No Republicans voted for the 2021 law in the form of Senate Bill 554.)

None of the bills affects a legal dispute over Measure 114, which voters narrowly approved on Nov. 8 to require prospective firearms purchasers to complete training and undergo a full background check. The measure has not gone into effect because of a challenge that its opponents have filed in Harney County Circuit Court, where a trial is pending.

The ghost-gun ban has been sought by Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum. While there are no Oregon statistics, Rosenblum said, California has reported that up to half of the firearms used in committing crimes are now untraceable, obtained without criminal background checks, lacking serial numbers, and made with parts from 3D plastic printers that can evade metal detectors. She also said that of 45,000 firearms seized by a federal agency, only about 45 could be traced.

Federal rules issued last year are intended to curb such ghost guns.

“We worked closely to make sure that we have filled loopholes in what we see with the federal law,” Rosenblum said. “Yet we have tried to be broad enough in our language to encompass potential changes in technology, particularly in regard to 3D printing. This law is quite straightforward. It prohibits undetectable firearms. If they’re untraceable, we want them serialized. There’s a process for doing that.”

House Bill 2005 proposes maximum penalties of 364 days in jail – one day short of felony status qualifying someone for state prison – and a $6,250 fine for conviction on a first offense. Rosenblum said those lesser penalties were proposed to encourage those who assemble guns from kits to get them serialized. But subsequent offenses would carry maximum penalties of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

“I think the attorney general makes the case that having unserialized firearms is a dumb idea,” Evans said. “Responsible gun owners do not want unserialized weapons.”

Access restrictions

Evans and Sen. James Manning Jr., a Democrat from Eugene and a 24-year veteran of the Army, said House Bill 2006 stops short of barring people ages 18 to 21 from all access to firearms, contrary to efforts in other states to impose a blanket prohibition. (The shooters in Buffalo and Uvalde were both 18.) But both lawmakers said they should not have unrestricted access to weapons such as an AR-15, a semiautomatic rifle.

“If you need an AR-15 to shoot a coyote, you probably shouldn’t have that AR-15 in the first place,” Evans said. “A .30-06 (rifle) should do just fine.”

“It is a weapon of war. It is not for sport or game,” said Manning, also a former drill sergeant. “So let’s be real.”

Prior to his Army service, Manning was a police officer, and his promise was to come home safe after his shift was over.

“If there is a way to help make sure that the odds are in their favor, I think these bills do just that,” he said. “So for those who believe in backing the blue, here’s a chance to say that we stand with law enforcement.”

“There seems to be too much focus on people who care about guns than those who do not want guns,” he added. “We need to shift the focus to people who are asking for common-sense measures to protect them and their families.”

Rep. Lisa Reynolds, D-Beaverton, is a pediatrician who said firearms are now the leading cause of death for those under age 18. She is a sponsor of all three bills – “it doesn’t have to be like this” — but she focused her remarks on the broader local option to ban or restrict firearms in House Bill 2007.

“The bill acknowledges the differences in Oregon communities and values,” she said. “It would not force jurisdictions to take any action if they do not wish to.”

Of Oregon’s 197 public school districts, she said, 32 boards have taken action under the 2021 law.