STATE
SATURDAY, APRIL 24, 2021
THE OBSERVER — 7A
House panel ponders linking
fi rearms storage, narrower ban
By PETER WONG
Oregon Capital Bureau
SALEM — Legislation
that combines proposed
requirements for fi rearms
locks and safe storage with a
narrower ban on fi rearms in
public buildings is gaining
political momentum in the
Oregon House.
The House Rules Com-
mittee heard a proposal to
combine elements of two
bills, one awaiting a vote of
the full House and a second
that has already passed the
Senate. If it happens, the
House would have to take
only one vote, instead of
two, on a fi rearms regula-
tion bill — and the Senate
would have to vote only on
whether to accept the fi nal
version.
“In this legislation
we kind of mash them
together,” House Repub-
lican Leader Christine
Drazan of Canby, who sits
on the committee, said
during a presentation on
Wednesday, April 21.
Republicans were
already dead set against
House Bill 2510, which
awaits a vote of the full
House scheduled on April
26. The House Health Care
Committee advanced it on
March 30 on a party-line
vote.
That bill would require
the storage of fi rearms with
trigger or cable locks, in a
locked container or in a gun
room. An off ense is a Class
C violation, which carries
a maximum fi ne of $500,
unless someone under age
18 obtains access, in which
case it is a Class A viola-
tion with a maximum fi ne
of $2,000. No jail time is
imposed for violations.
Its chief sponsor is Rep.
Rachel Prusak, D-West
Linn, who has advocated it
on behalf of a constituent
since her election in 2018.
She said she would sup-
port it becoming part of a
broader bill.
“No one is under the
illusion that enacting a
safe storage law will stop
all gun violence,” Prusak
said. “Many responsible
gun owners already lock up
their guns. The goal of this
safe-storage fi rearms bill is
to change the behavior of
the portion of gun owners
whose careless actions
lead to death and injury of
others.”
Split view of changes
The Rules Committee
proposes to combine it with
a narrower version of Senate
Bill 554, which passed the
Senate on a 16-7 vote March
25. All votes for it came
from Democrats; one Dem-
ocrat joined six Republicans
against it, and the rest were
Elaine Thompson/Associated Press, File
Semi-automatic rifl es are displayed on a wall at a gun shop in Lynnwood,
Washington, on Oct. 2, 2018. Lawmakers in Oregon are considering a gun
storage law that would be among the strongest in America.
excused or absent.
The original bill would
bar all fi rearms from state
buildings, including the
Capitol, and local govern-
ments would have the option
of barring them from their
own buildings. In essence,
the ban would apply to the
estimated 300,000 holders
of concealed-handgun
licenses, who are now
exempt from weapons bans
in public buildings.
The proposed amend-
ment would narrow the
scope of the Senate bill.
The proposed ban would
apply to the Capitol, but not
other state buildings. (State
courts, which are often
in buildings maintained
by counties, already ban
weapons by orders of the
presiding judges.)
It would allow boards of
the seven state universities,
17 community college dis-
tricts and 197 school dis-
tricts to bar fi rearms from
their buildings, but not their
grounds. Unlike the Sen-
ate-passed bill, cities, coun-
ties and special districts
would not be allowed to
bar fi rearms borne by con-
cealed-handgun licensees.
Sen. Ginny Burdick,
D-Portland and a longtime
supporter of fi rearms reg-
ulation, said the proposed
change goes too far.
“I’ve been in this pro-
cess a long time, and I
understand the neces-
sity for compromise,” she
said at a hearing. “But the
amended version goes way
too far in terms of weak-
ening the bill.”
Though the proposal
would still bar fi rearms
inside the Capitol, she said,
“In the climate we live in,
state buildings need to be
included.”
She also said if school
boards have discretion to
bar fi rearms from their
buildings, their grounds
need to be included,
“because sports activities
can get pretty hot, as we all
know, and they need to be
covered.”
As passed by the
Senate, public sidewalks
and streets are excluded
from regulation.
Sen. Floyd Prozanski, a
Democrat from Eugene who
leads the Senate Judiciary
Committee, off ered substi-
tute language.
“It only seems appro-
priate for us to give local
control to school boards,
community colleges and
universities to make the
determination what is best
for them and their prop-
erties, not just their build-
ings,” he said.
The House committee is
considering other amend-
ments, including one by
Rep. Brian Clem, D-Salem,
that would enable local gov-
ernments to regulate fi re-
arms in public parks. He
also proposed an amend-
ment that would do away
with state preemption of
most local fi rearms ordi-
nances — a law that dates
to 1995 — but conceded it
would go nowhere.
Previous killings
Oregon has experienced
two notable instances of
gun violence in schools.
In 1998, two died
and 25 were wounded at
Thurston High School in
Springfi eld after expelled
student Kipland Kinkel
shot his parents to death.
Kinkel, who was 15 at the
time, is in a state prison. In
2015, an assistant professor
and eight students died,
and eight were wounded,
by a student gunman at
Umpqua Community Col-
lege near Roseburg. The
gunman took his own life.
Attorney General Ellen
Rosenblum said she has
taken part in marches spon-
sored by Students Demand
Action, part of the national
group Everytown for Gun
Safety.
“This bill makes a clear
opportunity for Oregon
leaders to show our young
people that we hear them
and we care about their
safety,” Rosenblum said to
the committee. “It takes a
small but important step in
ensuring that Oregonians
can learn safely without the
threat of gun violence.”
WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU !
I-84:Upper Perry to Richland Interchange Bridge Repairs
In 2022, we will be repairing six Interstate 84 bridges at various
interchanges in eastern Oregon. The bridges are located between the Exit
256 Upper Perry Interchange (five miles west of La Grande) and the Exit
302 Oregon Highway 86 / Richland Interchange (two miles north of Baker
City). To collect feedback about the upcoming project we are holding a
virtual open house.
ONLINE OPEN HOUSE
April 26 through May 7
https://odotopenhouse.org/openhouse/i-84-upper-perry-to-richland-interchange-improvements
Please take a few minutes to visit the site during this time to review our
plans, pictures and traffic impacts information, and then let us know if you
have any comments.
Overview: Each bridge requires repairs and upgrades to fix a variety of
deficiencies. We will repair bridge decks and joints, seal cracks, replace
bridge and approach rails, and install protective screening. We will design
the project this year and construct it in 2022.
We appreciate your review and feedback. It will help us construct a better,
safer project.
Scan with mobile
device
ODOT is pleased to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). If you need
special accommodations or alternate language formats to participate in this open house
event, please contact us (contact information below). Alternate formats available upon
request, or call statewide relay at 711.
For more information, please contact Tom Strandberg, ODOT Public Information Officer
at 541-663-6261, or email thomas.m.strandberg@odot.state.or.us
Ellen Morris Bishop/Wallowa County Chieftain, File
Paddlers prepare to embark at Wallowa Lake State Park in August 2020. The Oregon Senate next week
considers a bill to safeguard the public from bias and hate crimes committed on public lands. The law
would prohibit people convicted of bias crime committed while on state waters or publicly owned outdoor
recreation land from entering areas under the jurisdiction of the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department
for up to fi ve years.
Proposed law would ban bias
off enders from public wilderness
By ISABELLE TAVARES
Columbia Insight via AP StoryShare
SALEM — When
Chad Brown, Navy vet-
eran and fl y fi sherman,
parked his car before
setting out to a river,
he never expected he’d
return to fi nd his brake
lines cut. But they had
been.
His apparent off ense?
Being a Black man fi shing
in Oregon.
Brown — who
recounted his experience
with backwoods bias for
Columbia Insight in 2020
— was one of more than
20 Oregon residents who
testifi ed earlier this month
before an Oregon Senate
committee on bias they’ve
experienced in outdoor
spaces.
On April 8, Oregon’s
Senate Energy and Envi-
ronment Committee
approved legislation that
safeguards the public
from bias and hate crimes
committed on public
lands. People convicted
of a bias crime on public
lands or waters will not
be allowed in those areas
for up to fi ve years.
Their permits,
licenses and tags would
be revoked for the same
period for crimes com-
mitted while angling,
taking shellfi sh, hunting
or trapping.
“There are people in
my district who are afraid
to go to a state park, to
get on a river in a boat,”
Sen. Lew Frederick,
D-Portland, told Salem’s
Statesman Journal.
“They believe if someone
decides to harass them
because of their race,
their ethnicity, nothing
will happen.”
The Oregon State
Police, Oregon Depart-
ment of Fish and Wildlife
and Oregon State Marine
Board have expressed
support for the bill.
“The conservation
community cannot be
silent on issues of jus-
tice, equality and access
to the outdoors,” said
Kevin Gorman, execu-
tive director of Friends of
the Columbia Gorge, in a
press release. “At a time
when hate and bias crimes
are increasing around the
country, including here in
the Pacifi c Northwest, we
can and must do better.”
Outdoor recreation
‘a risky endeavor’
A bias crime, or hate
crime, is propelled by bias
against someone based on
their race, color, religion,
gender identity, sexual
orientation, disability or
national origin. People
convicted of a fi rst- or
second-degree crime fall
under the new bill.
The legislation comes
at a time when hate crimes
have spiked to their
highest levels in more
than a decade, according
to a 2020 FBI report, and
when public attention,
in particular, has been
focused on hate crimes
against members of Asian
communities.
In Oregon, reported
bias crimes between Jan-
uary and April 2020
rose 366%, according
to Oregon Public
Broadcasting.
Robin Morris Collin,
professor at Willamette
University College of
Law, testifi ed that public
harassment can not only be
harmful to those experi-
encing the behavior, but to
those witnessing it.
“These actions may
exclude Black, indigenous
and people of color and
others including LGBTQI
persons, and these eff ects
ripple outward to others
who observe and avoid
these behaviors,” Morris
Collin said. “The com-
bined eff ect makes public
outdoor recreation a risky
endeavor for those who do
not want to confront these
behaviors or the contexts
in which they may become
vulnerable.”
Next steps
If passed into law, it’s
unclear how the bill would
be enforced.
But violators can’t roam
too far. Oregon is one
of 48 states that partici-
pate in the Wildlife Viola-
tors Compact, according
to Shannon Hurn, deputy
director of Oregon Depart-
ment of Fish and Wildlife.
“This Compact allows
for the revocation of a
license(s) to occur across
all of the participating
states,” said Hurn during
public testimony. “This
prevents individuals from
just applying outside the
state where the criminal
act occurred, and con-
tinuing to participate and
harvest wildlife in other
states.”
The bill allows courts to
sentence violators to com-
munity service, including
habitat restoration, main-
tenance of outdoor recre-
ation facilities and anti-
bias training.
The bill is heading to a
voice vote of the Senate on
Wednesday, April 28.