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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 10, 2016)
BLACKHISTORYMONTH QR code for Portland Observer Online ‘City of Roses’ Volume XLV Number 6 www.portlandobserver.com Wednesday • February 10, 2016 Established in 1970 Committed to Cultural Diversity Rev. Sharon Risher (second from left), who lost her mother and two cousins in the mass shooting in Charleston, South Carolina last June, visits the Oregon State Capitol to testify in support of a proposed law to ban gun sales when background checks are incomplete. Supporting her are House Majority Leader Jennifer Williamson (left) Gov. Kate Brown (second from right) and Paul Kemp, a member of the Everytown Survivors Network whose brother-in-law was killed at the 2012 Clackamas Town Center shooting. Gun Sales Loophole Targeted Massacre victims’ relative testiies to lawmakers O livia O livia T he P OrTland O bserver A woman who lost her mother and two cousins in the shooting massacre in Charleston, South Carolina, made a dramatic appearance at the state capitol in Salem to testify in support of a proposed state law to ban gun sales when background checks are incomplete. Rev. Sharon Risher lew across the country to appear before lawmakers on Thursday to ask them to close the so- called “Charleston loophole” by requiring that gun buyers go through a background check with no time limit. by Risher’s mother, Ethel Lance, and cousins, Susie Jack- son and Tywanza Sanders, were killed in the June 2015 shooting at Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, when Dylann Roof, killed nine parishioners. She told the Oregon House Judiciary Committee that the deaths could have easily been prevented if only Roof had been forced to wait for a background check before being handed the gun he would use to shoot up her church. He was able to get the gun, despite an earli- er drug conviction, because the background check took more than 72 hours. Oregon requires a similar criminal background check before any irearm or transfer can be completed in or- der to make it more dificult for violent criminals and domestic abusers to get their hands on a gun. However, if a background check takes longer than three days, the buyer can purchase the gun anyway, even if they are ulti- mately found to be ineligible due to a criminal or violent background. Risher testiied about how much damage such a loop- hole had brought to Charleston and her community. She joined other activists to ask that the loophole be closed C OnTinued On P age 15