4A
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2019
The Observer
OUR VIEW
Gun storage
measure is
confusing
No responsible gun owner would object to the
basic premise that guns should be stored in a way
designed to ensure that nobody who shouldn’t have
access to the guns will have it.
The National Rifl e Association, no fan of restric-
tions on gun owners, emphasizes safe handling and
storage of fi rearms. One of the NRA’s gun safety
rules puts it this way: “Store guns so they are not
accessible to unauthorized persons.”
This is basically the ostensible purpose behind
a ballot measure that Oregonians could vote on
in November 2020 if supporters gather suffi cient
signatures.
But that measure, No. 40, also includes some
provisions that seem intended more to discour-
age people from owning guns at all, rather than to
prompt them to safely store their fi rearms.
Section 1 of the measure requires gun owners to
“secure” all fi rearms, or face potential fi nes.
The measure defi nes a “secure” gun as one with
an engaged trigger lock or cable lock, or that is
stored in a “locked container, equipped with a
tamper-resistant lock.”
The measure also calls for the Oregon Health
Authority to adopt temporary rules by Jan. 1, 2021,
setting minimum specifi cations for those locks and
containers, and to adopt permanent rules for those
specifi cations by July 1, 2021.
Using locks, or locked containers, is a legitimate,
and common, way for gun owners to secure their
fi rearms.
But the measure would also impose on gun own-
ers a much more stringent, and potentially unreal-
istic, legal standard.
It reads in part: “... a fi rearm is not secured if a
key, combination or other means of opening a lock
or container is readily available to a person the
owner or possessor has not authorized to carry or
control the fi rearm.”
The key phrases in the preceding sentence are “or
other means” and “readily available.”
If we’re going to require gun owners to secure
guns with locks, it’s sensible to also ensure that
they keep track of the keys, or combinations, that
open those locks.
But mandating, at penalty of law, that gun own-
ers also ensure that nobody can have “other means”
to access a locked gun is such a broad requirement
that in effect it means if anybody gets your gun, by
any means, it’s your fault, legally speaking.
What if the “other means” is a pair of bolt cutters,
an item that’s “readily available” at any hardware
store?
The measure also states that “space within a
vehicle” does not qualify as a container that meets
the requirement for “secure” storage. This ignores
the growing availability of lockable storage spaces,
particularly in pickup trucks, which could be nearly
as secure as a locked container inside a home.
Measure 40’s backers have good intentions, but
the initiative doesn’t deserve voters’ support as
written.
MY VOICE
Our Vietnam veterans deserve
a memorial in Salem by 2022
O
n Nov. 11, 1969, Operation Fulton
Square in the Quang Tri Province
was in full force with the assistance of the
1st Marine Division, 101st Airborne Divi-
sion and the 5th Infantry Division. This
was one of 20 operations active through-
out Vietnam. There were more than
500,000 United States military personnel
assigned to the Vietnam War Zone.
Yes, Veterans Day 50 years ago was
very different than this year. While
today we have troops assigned to opera-
tions in the Middle East, we must real-
ize that in 1969 the Vietnam War was
raging. Identifi ed as the second most
deadly year of the Vietnam era, 11,780
United States warriors were killed in
action in 1969.
All totaled, more than 58,000 of our
troops died in Vietnam, and 710 were
from Oregon.
Man of those who survived the war
and returned home were not welcomed
or treated with respect or honor. Most
of these dedicated soldiers never heard
the words “thank you” or “welcome
home.” As a result, when it came to
Veterans Day in 1969 and subsequent
years, most Vietnam veterans did not
wish to participate. These warriors did
their duty, served our country and were
rebuked because of an unpopular war.
Sal Esquivel, former Oregon legisla-
tor and a Vietnam veteran, stated: “We
were not supported in the fi eld, we were
not supported by our government, we
were not supported by the people and
many of us were treated poorly when
we came home.”
When you look around our Capitol
City of Salem, you can fi nd memorials
built to honor the veterans of every
war and confl ict with the exception of
Operation Desert Storm and the Viet-
nam War. Once again, there is evidence
of the poor treatment received by our
Vietnam veterans.
Oregon can do better. There are
Oregonians who want everyone to
remember our Vietnam veterans. A
Vietnam War Memorial on the Oregon
State Capitol Grounds to the south of
the World War II Memorial is proposed.
My Voice
Write to us
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Steve Bates has resided in Boring
for 42 years and is a life member
of the Associates of
Vietnam Veterans
of America. He
serves as chair of
the Committee on
Memorials and
Remembrance and as president of
the Vietnam War Memorial Fund.
My Voice columns refl ect the
views of the author only. My Voice
columns should be 500-700 words
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Over the past two years, dozens of
volunteers have attended meetings
and performed research. The end result
of these efforts is a viable design for a
Vietnam Memorial on the Oregon State
Capitol Grounds.
The proposed Vietnam War Memorial
on the Oregon State Capitol Grounds
will remember the Oregonians who
gave the ultimate sacrifi ce in Vietnam.
It will honor the four Oregon families
who lost two sons to that war. In addi-
tion to historic accounts of the Vietnam
War, the design includes a memorial to
the six Oregonians who died in Opera-
tion Desert Storm.
Just as Oregon saluted the Great-
est Generation with a World War II
Memorial on the Oregon State Capitol
Grounds, it is time for Oregon to do the
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A division of
same for the Vietnam War veterans.
The Vietnam veterans are the sons
and daughters of the Greatest Genera-
tion. The Vietnam veterans went to war
to serve as their fathers and mothers
did. It is fi tting that our Oregon State
Capitol Grounds would honor these two
generations. With the completion of the
Vietnam War Memorial, together these
two memorials will honor more than
75% of Oregon’s war dead. But, memo-
rials do not just honor those who died.
Memorials honor all who served.
Veterans Day is designated to honor
our military veterans who are still with
us. The average age of our Vietnam
veterans is now older than 70. We are
slowly losing our Vietnam veterans. To
show our Vietnam veterans the esteem
they deserve, a goal has been estab-
lished to honor them with a Vietnam
War Memorial on the Oregon State
Capitol Grounds by Veterans Day 2022.
Will you join this effort? Please send
your contribution by check to: Vietnam
War Memorial Fund, P.O. Box 1448,
Boring 97009. You can donate by credit
card on the secure website at: www.
vietnamwarmemorialfund.org.
On Veterans Day, we should thank
all of our veterans for their service.
Especially our Vietnam veterans.
541-963-3161
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