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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (July 25, 2012)
^Jortlanb (Dbscrucr Page 4 July 25. 2012 Gun Violence Explosion background check requirem ents as is 22-years-old w ith a clean record long as the seller is dealing in few er and needs to m ake som e m oney. felon, has any w arrants, and see if than 25 firearms, som ething she calls G ive this person m oney and have there are any restraining orders or a problem because crim inals can get them go into a dealer and buy 200 g u n s,” she said. “The person w alks dom estic violence problem s,” she guns w ith no questions asked. “ You do not need to do a b ack out w ith as m any guns as the person said. Licenses dealers also see if a ground check for that. People can, w ants, and it is com pletely legal.” person is o f age. In the state o f but it costs m oney w ith a sm all fee,” Sim pson said state laws and local O regon, you m ust be 18-years-old she said. ordinances controlling firearm s are A n o th er w ay to get a gun is good and helpful, but there is such to buy a long gun, w hich is basically a rifle, and 21-years-old to buy a know n as a ‘straw ’ o r ‘straw m a n ’ a prevalence o f firearm s in the c o m purchase. It happens w hen som e m unity, it is difficult for them to have handgun or an assault w eapon. O kam oto said so-called kitchen one w ith a clean record is paid to a m ajor im pact. table or private sales, such as p u r purchase a gun for som eone else. “O ur goal is to m ake it harder to “ Say you have got som eone w ho get a gun if a crim inal or juvenile,” he chases on C ra ig ’s List, bypass any c o n tin u e d fr o n tp a g e A suspected gang member shows others his gun outside a southeast Portland apartment. The police surveillance photo, with the faces blacked out, was taken on July 17just before a high- risk traffic stop that escalated into a police shooting o f a l 7-year- old armed suspect. On July 16, members of the Portland Police Bureau Gun Task Force and Gang Enforcement Team recover three handguns from two apartments on Northeast 82nd Avenue. The guns had previously been reported stolen. PCC Seeks Candidates for Zone 2 Board Vacancy Portland Community College is seeking applications to fill a vacancy on the Board of Directors. Applicants must live in Zone 2 (North Portland, Northeast Portland north of Sandy Blvd., and portions of eastern Columbia County including St. Helens) and must be registered to vote. The selected candidate will serve on the Board until June 30, 2013, and can seek election to the position in May 2013. Applicants must submit a letter indicating their interest and qualifications, a current résumé and references. Letters of recommendation are appreciated but not required. said. “T he law s are effective, but you have to have enough people to enforce them , and the sheer num ber o f guns m akes it difficult to know all the different avenues they can be used w ithin the co m m u n ity .” In 2010, in an effort to curb the rate o f gun violence w ithin the city, Portland M ayor Sam A dam s w orked to pass five ordinances involving gun safety. T he local law s addressed the e n dangerm ent o f a child by allow ing access to a firearm ; increased co n sequences fo r the failure to report a lost o r stolen firearm ; enhanced sen THE LAW OFFICES OF Patrick John Sweeney, PC. Patrick John Sweeney Attorney at Law Applications must be received by Friday, August 10 at 5:00 p.m. For more information, visit www.pcc.edu/boardmember or call 971-722-4696. . 1549 SE Ladd Portland, Oregon m 2 X Portland < g )> Community College i i ' i ' j ' i ' i tences for the possession o f a loaded firearm in a public place; ad d ed new restrictions on youth curfew ; and orbid the use o f illegal firearm s in d e s ig n a te d n e ig h b o r h o o d “ h o ts p o ts .” Police say the ordinances have a direct im pact on the pervasiveness o f guns w ithin the com m unity, but O kam oto said these kinds o f laws should be statew ide, if not n ation wide. “ W hat the gun control m o v e m ent know s is once you put require m e n ts in o n e c o u n ty , th e gun d e ale r’s m ove out o f that county to a different county, w here they know they d o n ’t have to w orry ab o u t that law ,” she said. O katm oto said she w ould like to see m ore en fo rcem en t o f the child access prevention ordinance, in an effort to prevent old er gang m em bers from furnishing w eapons to gang m em bers w ho are m inors. “G et them aw ay from m essing w ith these kids and m essing w ith their lives,” she said. “T hese guys are not going to stop because it is illegal. M urder is illegal, but people • • * Portland: Hillsoboro: Facsimile: Email: (503) 244-2080 (503) 244-2081 (503) 244-2084 Sweeney@PDXLawyer.com com m it is every day. B ut if you d o n ’t m ake a law against it, then no one w ould ever w orry about retribu tio n .” She w ould also like to see a back ground check for every gun sold. Sim pson sees the biggest im pact on the reduction o f youth violence beginning w ith the fam ily. “Strong fam ilies can prevent kids from becom ing gang m em bers. Po lice have really low impact on whether or not a child will becom e a gang m em ber,” he said. “But if a 5 or 6 year old grow s up in a hom e w here gang violence is accepted by the fam ily, it is incredibly likely they will becom e a gang m em ber them selves.” H e also said the gun c a n ’t be blam ed for the high level o f violence w ithin Portland. “It is like blam ing spoons fo r obesity. T here is a h u m an elem ent here that is at w ork that is com plicit to getting guns into the hands o f y o u th ,” he said. “G uns are not the problem . L aw ful, legal gun o w nership is not the problem . T he problem is the guns that flow into the hands o f people w ho should not have th em .” The biggest hope, he said, is that parents will be more vigilant with their children, w ho are vulnerable to gang lifestyles. “W aiting for som eone else to fix the problem is not going to help. T he single biggest im pact to curb the rising rate o f gang violence is going to be fam ily,” he said. O kam oto agreed. “W e need to get o u r children educated, not ju s t about gun violence, w e need to get them into good schools and college to give them a ch a n c e, so they a re n ’t going to jo in g an g s,” she said. Ceasefire sponsors their next collection of unwanted firearms on Saturday, Aug. 18, from 10 to 2 p.m. at the north side o f Memorial Coli seum, in the Rose Quarter parking lot off North Benton Avenue.
