A CLOSE LOOK AT OREGON GUN OWNER'S ANTI-GUN INITIATIVE

SHOWING THEIR INITIATIVE UP FOR WHAT IT IS:
ANTI-GUN, ANTI-FREEDOM, UNAMERICAN!
And Just Plain STUPID!

UNDER CONSTRUCTION!


PLEASE NOTE:

ORIGINAL Initiative text will be shown in BLUE TEXT.

My own personal comments will appear as BLACK TEXT.

OREGON GUN OWNERS INITIATIVE

CHIEF PETITIONERS: JOHN NICHOLS AND SENATOR VERAL TARNO

FINAL VERSION-ADDED 12/7/99

SEND YOUR COMMENTS ON THE INITIATIVE TO
COMMENTS@OGO.ORG

FIREARMS ACT OF 2000


Section 1.
Title. This act shall be known as the Firearms Act of 2000. Section 2.
The purpose of this Act is to ensure that only law-abiding citizens may purchase firearms in this state, but to also ensure that all law-abiding citizens shall maintain the individual right to keep and bear arms and to protect the privacy of all law-abiding citizens. This initiative falls flat on it's face from the starting line! It doesn't matter how many laws are passed, if a person with criminal intent REALLY wants to obtain a firearm there will always be someone out there in society who will sell that person a gun. Lacking the ability to obtain a gun by paying for it individuals with criminal intent will steal one from someone else if need be for that is the way the criminal mind works. They care nothing about anyone else's rights, property or the law. To suggest that "A Law" which is only going to be obeyed by law abiding citizens is going to deter criminals from obtaining guns is as much insane as it is fantasy.
If John Nichols and Oregon Gun Owners want to "ensure" the gun rights of all law abiding citizens they should START by FIGHTING those that wish to further restrict and/or take away the rights of gun owners in Oregon. John Nichols and Oregon Gun Owners should NOT work to get an initiative on the ballot which FURTHER restricts the gun rights and liberties of gun owners in Oregon. To even suggest that this initiative will "maintain the individual right to keep and bear arms" is absolutely ludicrous and beyond belief!

Section 3.
All provisions of ORS 166.412, which require that a gun dealer carry out a background check process with the Oregon State Police as to the transfer of any handgun, shall also apply to a gun dealer’s transfer of any firearm as defined in ORS 166.412 (1)(c). A gun dealer who complies with the requirements of this Act and ORS 166.412 is immune from civil liability for any use of the firearm from the time the firearm is transferred unless the gun dealer transfers the firearm knowing that the purchaser is likely to commit an unlawful act involving the firearm.

Notice how Oregon Gun Owners seems to give gun dealers a good deal by saying that, "A gun dealer who complies with the requirements of this Act and ORS 166.412 is immune from civil liability for any use of the firearm from the time the firearm is transferred...."

Do you see what is wrong with that statement in this initiative? I'll tell you what's wrong with it! NO GUN DEALER or MANUFACTURER should be held criminally liable for the actions of someone else who bought their LEGALLY SOLD firearm and then misused it! NO ONE should be held liable for the criminal acts of someone else over whom you had no control! Additionally, there should ALREADY be laws on the books which prevent people from suing a manufacturer or gun dealer when the buyer of that firearm misuses it in a criminal manner.

Section 4.
(1.) A person other than a dealer who transfers a firearm at an event at which the person knows, or reasonably should know, that more than 25 firearms are held out to the public for transfer is required to request a criminal history record check under Section 5 of this Act prior to completing the transfer.

Referring to the above section from the initiative:

At Oregon Gun Owners web site they have this saying on their initial web page:

    "Oregon Gun Owners has been protecting firearms rights in Oregon for over twenty-five years. Our philosophy is simple and clearly defined. Our goal is the preservation of our right as a free people to own and use firearms..."
Source: http://www.org.org


If what Oregon Gun Owners say at the their website is indeed true, how can they promote an initiative that would make it THE LAW that *ALL* PRIVATE, LAW ABIDING gun owners who sell or trade firearms at gun shows have to FIRST ask the government for PERMISSION before they can sell or buy a firearm??

Is this "...protecting firearms rights in Oregon"?

Is this working to "preserve our right as a free people..." ?????

I don't think so!


(2.) Subsection (1) of this section does not apply if the transferee is licensed as a dealer under 18 U.S.C. 923, if the person is transferring a firearm as part of an estate sale,or if the person conducts the transfer from the person’s place of residence.

How much would you want to bet that the next thing the gun grabbers will be going after - and that Oregon Gun Owners will willingly compromise away - will be our INDIVIDUAL FREEDOM and LIBERTY to sell our own private firearms, which are our own property, to someone else IN OUR OWN HOME!?!

Will Oregon Gun Owners turn belly up AGAIN, as they have done in the past with other ANTI-GUN LEGISLATION (House Bill 2535, John Helen, May 12, 1999 in House Judiciary Committee) and say that because they believe "the political will is there" that they will THEN support mandatory background checks on PRIVATE firearm sales between law abiding citizens IN THEIR OWN HOMES? Based on past observations of Oregon Gun Owners, as represented by John Helen in committee meetings in Salem, Oregon, I wouldn't be the least suprised!

(3.) Failure to comply with the requirements of Subsection (1) of this section is a violation. A repeat failure to comply with the requirements of subsection (1) of this section is a Class C misdemeanor.

Well, There you go folks. With this initiative if you go to a gun show and you want to sell your handgun or rifle at that show, you will have to do a background check on the person you are selling your gun to OR you will be CHARGED WITH A CLASS C MISDEMEANOR on the second offense. If this initiative gets to the ballot and gets voted into law you can bet you bottom dollar that the next phase will be to extend MANDATORY BACKGROUND CHECKS to PRIVATE HOME sales of firearms!! The government will then be able to trace EVERY sale which is conducted between law abiding citizens.

(4.) Even if not legally required to do so, any person who is considering transferring a firearm to another person may request a criminal history record check under Section 5 of this Act.

Well now, isn't this interesting. Here, Oregon Gun Owners, proposes to set things up such that PRIVATE gun owners, "Even if not legally required to do so," will be able to call up the state police and do a background check on a prospective gun buyer.

Isn't this convenient! I'd be willing to bet that once something like this is set up some House or Senate member in Salem, Oregon will create a bill MANDATING that PRIVATE gun owners HAVE TO do background checks on anyone that wants to buy a firearm from them in that gun owner's own home!.

That Oregon Gun Owners didn't see this as a possibility is truely amazing. Then again, in light of their past compromising position on the gun rights of Oregonians it's not suprising....

Section 5.
(1.) (4.) The Department of State Police shall make the telephone number for gun dealer background checks under ORS 166.412 available to all persons for the purpose of responding to inquiries from persons for criminal history record checks under this Act. This telephone number shall be toll-free and shall be operational 7 days a week between the hours of 8 a.m. and 10 p.m. for the purpose of responding to inquiries for criminal history record checks. The Department is not required to operate the telephone number on Thanksgiving Day or Christmas Day.

If this initiative passes you just watch: The next time the Oregon legislature is in sesson - or maybe sometime in the future - one of those Anti-Gun Fanatics in the Oregon legislature will propose a bill that will make it MANDATORY that before *ALL* PRIVATE SALES of firearms in private homes takes place and/or whenever firearms change hands in a private home each seller of a firearm will *HAVE* *TO* do a background check on the prospective buyer or pay the price under penalty of law.

After World War II Communism spread throughout the world under the theory of TWO steps forward and ONE step back. Inch by inch Communism spread to many countries in Europe as well as to some countries in the Western Hemisphere. It didn't happen over night. It happened little by little. What you are reading here in this part of the Oregon Gun Owners initiative is that exact same kind of Communist theory IN OPERATION!

The Gun Grabbers *KNOW* that if they went after a law making it mandatory that *ALL* gun transactions in the state - both at gun shows AND in private homes - had to be called in to the State Police and/or to the NICS system and background checks HAD to be done on prospective buyers in private homes that this initiative would be almost guaranteed to fall flat on it's face. The Gun Grabbers know this.

So, what the Anti-Gun crowd - the Communists in sheep's clothing in this state - are doing is slowly moving in that exact same direction. AFTER they've established that PRIVATE CITIZENS have to - BY LAW - do background checks on gun buyers at gun shows they, the Anti-Gun Fanatics will THEN come forth and say, "We need to close the Background Check LOOPHOLE!." With that they will move to make *ALL* gun sales and/or transactions at private homes such that the seller of a firearm will have to do a background check on a prospective buyer OR be faced with fines and/or prosecution.

THAT is exactly how the Communists worked their plans, after World War II, of spreading Communism - two steps forward and one step back...little by little until the communist takeover of a government was achieved. And, that is exactly how the Anti-Gun Fanatics are achieving their anti-gun agenda here in this country AND here in this initiative in Oregon with the help of Oregon Gun Owners.

(2.) Prior to transferring a firearm, a person other than a gun dealer may request by telephone that the department conduct a criminal history record check on the transferee and shall provide the following information to the department:

(a) The name, address and telephone number of the person making the transfer;

(b) The make, model, caliber and manufacturer’s number of the firearm being transferred;

(c) The name, date of birth, race, sex and address of the transferee;

(d) The Social Security number of the transferee if the transferee voluntarily provides this number; and

(e) The type, issuer and identification number of the identification bearing the transferee’s recent photograph presented by the transferee and meeting the standards as to satisfactory identification as specified in ORS 166.412(4).

(3.)
(a) Upon receipt of a request for a criminal history record check under this section, the department shall immediately, during the telephone call or by return call:

(A) Determine from criminal records and other information available to it whether the transferee is disqualified under ORS 166.470 from completing the transfer; and

(B) Notify the person when a transferee is disqualified from completing the transfer or provide the person with a unique approval number indicating that the transferee is qualified to complete the transfer. The unique approval number is a permit valid for 24 hours for the requested transfer. If the firearm is not transferred from the person to the transferee within 24 hours after receipt of the unique approval number, the person must make a new inquiry.
(b) If the department is unable to determine, within 30 minutes, if the transferee is qualified for or disqualified from completing the transfer, the department shall notify the person and provide the person with an estimate of the time when the department will provide the requested information.

A deferral of the qualification or disqualification determination may not exceed 24 hours beyond the first telephone inquiry on a particular transfer.

If the department does not acquire objective information, within 24 hours of the first telephone inquiry, that the transferee is disqualified from completing the transfer, the department shall either notify the person that the transferee is qualified or notify the person that the transferee is potentially disqualified, with the opportunity for further investigation by the department to attempt to qualify the transferee.

The person may then notify the transferee of this opportunity.

The transferee may then contact the department and request further investigation to qualify the transfer.

If the transferee does not contact the department, within 72 hours of the first telephone inquiry, to request further investigation to qualify the transfer, the department shall conclude the criminal records check.

This does not prevent the department from continuing an investigation where it has reasonable grounds to believe that the transferee was attempting to engage in an illegal firearm transfer.

(c) If the transferee does request further investigation, the investigation shall proceed until a qualification or disqualification determination is made. Once the investigation is complete so as to allow a qualification/disqualification determination, the department shall proceed as provided in Subsection (7) of this Section.

(d) If the department fails to provide a unique approval number to a transferor or to notify the transferor that the transferee is disqualified under paragraph (a) of this Subsection, within 24 hours of the initial criminal history record check request, the transferor may transfer the firearm.


(4.)
(a) Except as otherwise provided in paragraph (b) of this subsection, a person who receives notification under this section that a transferee is qualified to complete the transfer of a firearm is immune from civil liability for any use of the firearm from the time of the transfer unless the person transfers the firearm knowing that the transferee is likely to commit an unlawful act involving the firearm.

(b) The immunity provided by paragraph (a) of this subsection does not apply if the person who first transfers the firearm knows that the transferee of the firearm intends to deliver the firearm to a third person whom the first transferor knows may not lawfully possess the firearm.


(5.) A public employee or public agency incurs no criminal or civil liability for performing the investigations required by this section provided the employee or agency acts in good faith and without malice.

(6.) The transferee of the firearm must be present when a person makes a request for a criminal history record check under this section.

(7.) Within 24 hours after the department completes a criminal history record check, the department shall mail to a transferor a confirmation of the criminal history record check, indicating the date of the check, the name of the person who was subject to the record check, the result of the record check, and the name of the person who requested the record check.

Section 6.
A person commits the crime of providing false information in connection with a transfer of a firearm if the person knowingly provides a false name or false information or presents false identification in connection with a purchase or transfer of a firearm under ORS 166.412 or under this Act. Providing false information in connection with a transfer of a firearm is a Class A misdemeanor.

Section 7.
A person commits the crime of improperly transferring a firearm if the person is a gun dealer as defined in ORS 166.412 and sells, leases, or otherwise transfers a firearm and intentionally violates ORS 166.412. Improperly transferring a firearm is a Class A misdemeanor.

Section 8.
The Department of State Police shall charge no fee for any criminal history record checks required under ORS 166.412 or performed under this Act. The criminal records checks under this Act and ORS 166.412 shall be funded out of the appropriation for the Department.

Section 9.
The owner of a firearm is immune from civil or criminal liability for the improper use of the owner’s firearm by someone other than the owner if the owner did not authorize the use and stored the firearm in a locked storage device or locked storage area, or stored the firearm with a locked device in place so as to prevent the discharge of the firearm. Establishment of this immunity from civil or criminal liability does not explicitly or implicitly create any new civil or criminal liability for any person who fails to qualify for the immunity provided in this section.

Section 10.
(1) The following restrictions apply as to records maintained on firearms background checks, notwithstanding any other provision of law.

(2)
(a) Where a transferee is found to be qualified to complete the purchase or transfer, the Department of State Police may maintain information about the firearm and the gun dealer or other person transferring the firearm, and information about the purchaser or transferee, that is obtained during a request for a criminal history record check under this act or under ORS166.412, until the criminal history check is completed, the transferor is informed that the check led to a determination that the transferee was qualified for completing the purchase or transfer and the department has mailed the confirmation that the records check was conducted.

Within 24 hours after the department has mailed the confirmation that the criminal records check was conducted and that the transferee was qualified for completing the purchase or transfer, the department shall destroy all records relating to that criminal records check and shall not transfer any such records to any other agency or person.

(b) Where a criminal record check resulted in a further investigation, and the transferee was determined to be qualified to complete the transfer, the transferee may request in writing that this record be maintained, as an exemption to the records destruction requirement, so that the transferee may be more easily qualified in future transactions.

This request is voluntary on the part of the transferee. If such request is made, the department shall maintain the investigation record so long as the request remains in effect. The department shall destroy the record within 24 hours of receipt of written notice from the transferee that the transferee withdraws the record-maintenance request.


(3) Any information obtained during a request for a criminal history record check under ORS 166.412 or this act may be maintained indefinitely if the purchaser or other transferee was disqualified from completing the transfer on the basis that the purchaser or transferee cannot legally possess the firearm.

(4) The record of the information obtained during a request for a criminal history record check under ORS 166.412 or this Act is confidential and may not be disclosed except that the information:

(A) May be disclosed to law enforcement agencies for criminal investigation purposes; (B) Concerning specific firearm transactions previously provided by a gun dealer or other person transferring a firearm or by a firearm purchaser may be released to the person providing the information.
(5) A person who discloses information in violation of Subsection (4) commits a violation. A person who intentionally misuses information maintained under Subsection (4) or who intentionally grants unauthorized access to such information, or who intentionally obtains unauthorized access to such information, or who intentionally violates the requirements for records destruction in Subsection (2) and (6) of this Section, commits a Class A misdemeanor.

(6) By July 15, 2001, all previously-established records relating to criminal records checks, describing the transferor, the transferee, and the firearm, where the transferor was informed by the department that the check led to a determination that the transferee was qualified for completing the purchase or transfer, shall be purged from the department’s records system and shall be destroyed.

Such records shall not be transferred to any other agency or person.

Section 11:

(1) Every day, the Department of State Police shall purge records of information retained under ORS 166.412 (7) or this Act in accordance with the retention periods established in this Act.

(2) Once each calendar year, or more often as necessary, the Secretary of State shall review the records system of the Department of State Police to ensure that the Department of State Police is complying with the requirements of ORS 166.412 (7) and subsection (1) of this section.

Section 12.
Reserve officers, whether active or honorably retired, have the same authority as sheriffs or police officers to carry firearms, under the exemption of ORS 166.260(1), if the appointing authority specifically authorized the reserve officers to carry concealed handguns while off duty.

Section 13. ORS 161.610 is revised to read:

(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a person who uses or threatens to use a firearm during the commission of a felony shall receive an enhanced penalty of imprisonment, as described herein.

(2) The use or threatened use of a firearm by a person during the commission of a felony may be pleaded in the accusatory instrument and proved at trial as an element in aggravation of the crime as provided in this section. When a crime is so pleaded, the aggravated nature of the crime may be indicated by adding the words “with a firearm” to the title of the offense. The unaggravated crime shall be considered a lesser-included offense.

(3) The enhanced penalty of imprisonment for a person who uses or threatens to use a firearm during the commission of a felony shall be:

(a) Upon the first conviction for such felony, five years.
(b) Upon the second conviction for such felony, ten years.
(c) Upon the third or more conviction for such felony, 30 years.


(4) This enhanced penalty shall be in addition to any penalty that is imposed for each underlying offense. During the time of the enhanced penalty of imprisonment, the person is not eligible for release or post-prison supervision or any form of leave from custody, and the person is not eligible for any reduction in sentence below the enhanced penalty of imprisonment, for any reason. There shall be no suspension of execution of the sentence, as to this enhanced penalty, for any reason.

(5) For purposes of this section, “firearm” means a weapon, which is designed to expel a projectile by the action of black powder or smokeless powder, and includes such device whether operable or inoperable.

(6) The State Police shall prepare public service announcements designed to publicize the additional imprisonment for use or threatened use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, and shall provide such announcements to the publishing and broadcasting media.

Section 14.
When a person is convicted of the crime of felon in possession of a firearm, under ORS 166.270, the court shall impose, and the person shall serve, a term of imprisonment of at least two years. The person is not, during the two year term of imprisonment, eligible for release or post-prison supervision or any form of leave from custody, and the person is not eligible for any reduction in sentence below the two year term of imprisonment for any reason. The court may impose a greater sentence if otherwise permitted by law.

Section 15.
This Act is effective upon passage and is operative as of July 1, 2001

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