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THE ASTORIAN • TuESdAy, MAy 11, 2021
OPINION
editor@dailyastorian.com
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GUEST COLUMN
The long, strange trip to gun reform
W
ell, that was anticlimactic.
And strange, maybe even
bizarre.
On a near party-line vote, the Oregon
Senate passed a gun control bill and sent
it to Gov. Kate Brown for her blessing.
That was no surprise. But it was a
surprise that the Senate spent less than a
half-hour debating Senate Bill 554.
Even how the Sen-
ate wound up voting
on the bill Wednesday
was weird, though legal
under Senate rules. It
illustrated, once again,
that whichever political
party controls the Leg-
DICK
islature determines what
HUGHES
happens.
SB 554 comprises 12
pages mandating safe storage of fire-
arms, prohibiting people from carrying
guns in the Oregon Capitol and Portland
International Airport, allowing schools
and colleges to ban firearms on campus
and increasing fees for concealed hand-
gun licenses.
Half the bill never got a public hear-
ing in the Senate. Neither was it dis-
cussed in a Senate committee. That is
because the House Democrats took the
version of SB 554 that the Senate had
passed 16 to 7 in March after various
parliamentary maneuvers and lengthy
debate, rewrote the bill to add the safe
storage mandates, passed the new bill 34
to 24 and shipped it back to the Senate.
Wednesday’s Senate vote was on
whether to accept the House’s changes.
The bill had been listed for Senate con-
sideration next month but sometime
May 4 it was added to Wednesday’s
agenda.
Recognizing that he would fail, state
Senate Republican Leader Fred Girod,
of Lyons, tried to delay consideration of
the bill until June 27, which is the con-
stitutional deadline for the 2021 Leg-
islature to adjourn. “We all know this
is going to be a party-line vote, and I
really find that repugnant. And I just
wish that people would vote for what’s
right, not what’s best for your darn
party,” Girod said before his motion
failed on a 6-18 outcome.
Of course, what is right is in the eye
of the beholder.
“As a gun owner for over 50 years,
I believe that it’s our duty as gun own-
Gov. Kate Brown is reviewing a bill that would impose gun restrictions.
ers to be responsible in our possession
and holding and storing of our guns,”
said Sen. Floyd Prozanski, D-Eugene,
arguing that SB 554 did not violate or
infringe on the Second Amendment.
After the brief debate, the bill
passed 17 to 7. Senate President Peter
Courtney, D-Salem, signed it on
Thursday, and it’s headed to Brown for
review.
The difference between the six votes
for Girod’s motion and the seven against
the overall bill was Sen. Betsy John-
son, D-Scappoose. Arguably one of Ore-
gon’s most independent lawmakers,
certainly among Democrats, Johnson
joined her fellow Democrats in defeat-
ing Girod’s motion. That is how politics
works. However, Johnson then joined
six Republicans in opposing the overall
bill, the only Senate Democrat to do so.
Four Republicans and the two Indepen-
dents were gone, presumably to boycott
action on the bill.
Now it gets interesting. And
expensive.
Assuming Brown signs the bill, as
is expected, the law will take effect 91
days after the 2021 Legislature adjourns.
That gives opponents a chance to collect
enough signatures to force a statewide
vote, which also would seem likely.
Oregonians then can expect multi-
million-dollar campaigns to sway vot-
ers. Imagine what Oregon might have
achieved in reducing gun violence if
both sides had instead pooled their
resources toward a joint, intensive state-
wide campaign to encourage safe stor-
age of firearms. As with COVID-19
vaccinations and other societal issues,
individuals heed the advice of people
and organizations whom they trust —
and ignore the others.
Speaking of trusted sources
The Oregon Health Authority should
ask Cliff Bentz, who represents Ore-
gon’s 2nd Congressional District, to
record a public service announcement
about the coronavirus vaccinations.
The Republican of Ontario said he tries
to conclude every interview with two
words: “Get vaccinated.”
Bentz talked about a variety of issues
during a videoconference legislative
briefing arranged by Oregon Business
& Industry. That included an analysis of
his colleagues in the U.S. House: “It’s
just astounding how normal people are.”
He also encouraged Oregonians to
make good use of their U.S. senators,
Democrats Ron Wyden and Jeff Merk-
ley. “Ron and Jeff have more power than
they ever have,” Bentz said.
Differing views of Oregon
Urban-rural differences remain an
ongoing theme at the Oregon Capitol.
Sen. Chris Gorsek, D-Troutdale, spoke
to it Tuesday.
“I am very concerned about what
is going on, especially in southern and
Eastern Oregon, in terms of how people
feel about the government of the state.
And it seems like we’re just kind of let-
ting that pass by and letting that fester,”
he said, calling on Gov. Brown to start
talking with people around the state.
“Leadership demands that we deal
with this, and in this case, I think it’s the
governor.”
Awaiting a conduct report
As of this writing, the House Con-
duct Committee has not scheduled a
follow-up meeting to hear the outside
investigator’s draft report into the sex-
ual harassment complaint that Rep.
Vikki Breese-Iverson, R-Prineville, filed
against Rep. Brad Witt, D-Clatskanie.
The investigator had said she
expected to finish the report by the end
of April.
dick Hughes has been covering the
Oregon political scene since 1976.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Send a message
am writing this letter to express my con-
cern for the future of the city of Seaside.
The city has been allowing RV over-
night camping on Necanicum Drive for a
year now, along with people sleeping in
their cars. My neighbors and I have com-
plained to the Seaside City Council, how-
ever, it seems they think they have their
hands tied and are looking into possible
solutions.
Pedestrians have found the sidewalks
blocked with the RV campers’ belongings,
and I have personally stepped in a puddle
of urine when stepping off the curb in front
of the RV that is parked the closest to the
12th Avenue bridge.
I have seen RV campers spray-paint-
ing their RVs, performing body work, etc.
These RVs are an eyesore, and happen
to be parked across the street from a city
park.
I have been told the city cannot do any-
thing due to a federal appeals court ruling
related to Boise, Idaho. That ruling pro-
hibits displacing homeless people if there
isn’t adequate shelter space.
In my research, I have found the U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Devel-
opment doesn’t consider people living in
RVs to be homeless, as the vehicles are
designed for human habitat.
My concern is if the RV campers
parked on Portland streets find out they
can park on the streets in Seaside, they
may come in droves.
I suggest the city of Seaside use the
anticipated $1.4 million American Res-
cue Plan dollars to start removing illegally
parked RVs from city streets, and send a
message.
DAVE ANDERSON
Seaside
I
Accessible to everyone
am pleased to hear that the Astoria
Library is moving forward in stages to
renovate. But, until the library is open eve-
nings or weekends, it is not fully serving
our community.
The solution of “go to Seaside on
the weekends” that I’ve heard from the
library’s social media is inadequate. Let’s
I
make the library accessible to everyone,
beyond the Americans with Disabilities
Act compliance changes in stage one.
One day a week, could the library
be open from 2 to 6 p.m. instead of 1 to
5 p.m.? What is stopping the library from
serving the working, taxpaying Astoria
resident?
KELLI GRIFFITH
Astoria
No one
he April 29 online headlines in The
Astorian, one on top of the other, with
T
absolutely no irony: “County appeals to
governor to lift virus restrictions,” and
“County reports 14 new virus cases.”
Clatsop County has a goal of vaccinat-
ing only 70% of its population, and it has
not even achieved half of that as of this
writing. But the county wants the governor
to allow everything to be open for busi-
ness, with no restrictions?
The endless opening and closing of
businesses is frustrating, and there is only
one way to stop it. Every single person
must get vaccinated. Enough with allow-
ing people to refuse to get vaccinated, and
demanding that they have the right to go
about life as usual, while it puts the health
and well-being of others at risk.
They’re blocking COVID-19 herd
immunity. They are solely responsible.
Cases in the state keep going up by the
hundreds. It’s time to require that peo-
ple get vaccinated. No one has the right
to continue to perpetuate a deadly public
health risk. No one.
Either everyone gets vaccinated, and
everything is able to open up and come
back to life, or COVID-19 cases continue
to go up and restrictions are imposed,
eased and re-imposed, because of a nev-
er-ending cycle of illness.
CHRISTINA BUCK
Seaside