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Backers of a proposed initiative that would require individuals to secure permits to buy firearms and ban large-capacity magazines deliver the signatures of thousands of
voters to state election offices on July 8 in Salem. The backers say they have enough signatures to place the measure on the November ballot. (AP photo)
Signature Drive Complete
Gun Control
Backers rejoice,
expect fall ballot
(AP) — Backers of a proposed initia-
tive in Oregon that would require people
to secure permits to buy firearms say
concern about recent mass shootings
have buoyed their effort and they have
enough signatures to place it on the No-
vember ballot.
The Rev. Mark Knutson, a chief peti-
tioner of the initiative, delivered signa-
tures July 8 to the Oregon secretary of
state’s office in Salem, accompanied by
students and other volunteers. Election
officials, who work under Secretary of
State Shemia Fagan, will verify that the
signatures are from registered voters.
Proponents of the measure say they’ve
seen surging interest in the possible No-
vember ballot question following recent
mass shootings, and they hope the move
to put the gun issue before voters catches
fire in other states.
“Let’s go across the nation, and go
from grief and despair and mourning,”
Knutson said. “We just need to take ac-
tion. If people are afraid, if neighbors
are being shot, if our children are in
fear — if we don’t take action, what
are we doing?”
The initiative supporters needed to de-
liver at least 112,080 registered voters’
signatures by the Friday deadline to get
on the ballot, Knutson said. Proponents
say they delivered 161,545 signatures.
It would ban large capacity magazines
over 10 rounds — except for current
owners, law enforcement and the mili-
tary — and require a permit to purchase
any gun. The state police would create a
firearms database.
To qualify for a permit, an applicant
must complete an approved firearm safe-
ty course, pay a fee, provide personal
information, submit to fingerprinting and
photographing and pass a criminal back-
ground check. The person must apply for
the permit from the local police chief,
county sheriff or their designees.
Oregon appears to be the only state in
America with a gun safety initiative un-
derway for the 2022 election, according
to Sean Holihan, state legislative direc-
tor for Giffords, an organization dedicat-
ed to saving lives from gun violence.
The National Rifle Association’s In-
stitute for Legislative Action has de-
nounced the initiative, saying on its
website that “these anti-gun citizens are
coming after YOU, the law-abiding fire-
arm owners of Oregon, and YOUR guns.
They don’t care about the Constitution,
your right to keep and bear arms, or your
God-given right of self-defense.”
Voters in two predominantly Demo-
cratic neighboring states have already
passed gun safety ballot measures.
In 2018, Washington state voters ap-
proved restrictions on the purchase and
ownership of firearms, including raising
the minimum purchasing age to 21, add-
ing background checks and increasing
waiting periods. In 2016, voters there
overwhelmingly approved a measure
authorizing courts to issue extreme risk
protection orders to remove an individu-
al’s access to firearms.
California voters in 2016 passed a
measure prohibiting the possession of
large-capacity ammunition magazines
and requiring certain individuals to pass
a background check to buy ammunition.
The same year, voters in Maine nar-
rowly defeated a proposal to require
background checks before a gun sale.