Proposed Oregon Mandatory Gun Lock Measure Gets Ballot Title

U.S.A. –-(Ammoland.com)- Oregon gun control advocates have taken another step toward forcing Beaver State firearms owners to lock up their guns when not in use by obtaining a ballot title for their petition from the Oregon Secretary of State.

The measure is titled “Oregonians for Safe Gun Storage and Reporting Lost/Stolen Firearm.”

Ballot Measure 40 must obtain 112,020 signatures for validation to appear on the November 2020 ballot, and the Oregon Firearms Federation is already swinging into action, alerting its members.

In a bulletin emailed to gun owners, OFF asserts, “Ballot Measure 40 creates a quagmire of incomprehensible mandates and dangerous restrictions designed to create a legal minefield for gun owners.”

There are three “chief petitioners” identified by the Secretary of State’s Election Division. They are Henry W. Wessinger and Lisa A. Reynolds, both of Portland and Paul Kemp, a Happy Valley resident. The prospective petition was filed in mid-July with 1,928 sponsorship signatures, more than enough to pass the first hurdle.

Under provisions of this new gun control measure, “A person who owns or possesses a firearm shall, at all times that the firearm is not carried by or under the control of the person or an authorized person, secure the firearm:

(A) With an engaged trigger lock or cable lock that meets or exceeds the minimum specifications established by the Oregon Health Authority…

(B) In a locked container, equipped with a tamper-resistant lock, that meets or exceeds the same “minimum specifications.”

The immediate question Oregon gun owners might ask is, when did the Oregon Health Authority become an expert source on firearms safety?

Other provisions of the measure might also raise some concerns. In the event of a firearm transfer, it must have an engaged trigger lock or cable lock meeting the same Health Authority specifications.

Similar to other gun control ballot measures relating to safe storage and reporting, “A person who owns, possesses or controls a firearm shall report the loss or theft of the firearm to a law enforcement agency in the jurisdiction in which the loss or theft occurred not later than 24 hours of the time the person knew or reasonably should have known of the loss or theft.”
Violation of this section is a Class B violation.

In recent years, the entire Pacific Northwest has become a hotbed of gun control activity. In neighboring Washington, the billionaire-backed Seattle-based Alliance for Gun Responsibility has pushed through a trio of anti-gun-rights measures against resistance from gun rights organizations that were simply out-spent. There are concerns among Evergreen State rights activists that this group will next target Washington’s model preemption law that dates back more than 35 years. That statute prevents local cities, towns and counties from adopting their own gun control ordinances which could conflict with one another. It was this patchwork of contradictory laws that prompted the State Legislature in 1983 and again in 1985 to assume sole authority for firearms regulation within the state.

Seattle and other municipalities have attempted to erase that law since its inception.

That subject came up during a recent public meeting with Kirkland City Council hopefuls when candidate Neal Black, an attorney and former board member of Washington Ceasefire said the preemption law should be “lifted” and candidate David Schwartz, a former Microsoft employee, advocated for repeal of the Second Amendment. Their remarks can be heard about 47 minutes into this video posted on Facebook by the Kirkland Reporter.

South of the Columbia River, the State Legislature is now firmly in control of liberal Democrats. They adopted some gun control laws but were thwarted earlier this year from passing more onerous restrictions when Senate Republicans walked out and stayed out until Democrats folded on two key issues, one of which was gun control.

According to the OFF bulletin, “We have until Oct. 24 to file comments on the accuracy of the Ballot Title. That means the Caption, the Result of a Yes and No vote and the Summary, and suggest alternatives. This does NOT mean comments on the ballot measure language itself. Just the accuracy of the Ballot Title.”

The bulletin also challenged gun owners: “If you are inclined to deal with the minutia of this poorly written attack on your safety, we encourage you to read the measure itself and help us point out its obvious flaws.”

About Dave Workman

Dave Workman is a senior editor at TheGunMag.com and Liberty Park Press, author of multiple books on the Right to Keep & Bear Arms and formerly an NRA-certified firearms instructor.

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