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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 6, 2016)
OFF PAGE ONE GUNS: Private sales have increasingly gone online Page 8A East Oregonian Continued from 1A other social connections than at gun shoZs or Àea ParNets The president’s action ³has potential iPpact ² the degree or the type, it’s hard to predict,” said University of Pennsylvania professor Susan Sorenson, who studies violence prevention ³$nd it’s really iPportant to acNnowledge that we can’t just have one change and expect that to change things wildly” The president also called for the hiring of Pore than 20 additional exaPiners and other staff to process the Pillions of EacNground checNs received annually Yet even with added Panpower, there’s no way to coPpletely eliPinate huPan error liNe the clerical PistaNe that allowed Dylann Roof, the young Pan charged in the Charleston, South Caro- lina, church Passacre, to Euy a weapon even though he should have Eeen disTuali- ¿ed Eecause of a drug arrest The White House did not set a threshold for the nuPEer of guns soPeone has to sell to Ee covered Ey the licensing and EacNground checN reTuirePent %ut it warned that people can Ee charged with a federal criPe punishaEle Ey up to ¿ve years in prison for selling as few as two ¿rearPs when there is evidence they are running a Eusiness, such as selling weapons in their original pacNaging and for a pro¿t Theresa O’RourNe of Downers Grove, Illinois, said she hopes OEaPa’s action will deter illegal transactions that have deadly conse- Tuences Her Eest friend, 6-year-old JitNa 9esel, was Nilled in 2011 Ey a stalNer who had illegally purchased a gun froP a seller he Pet through $rPslistcoP, an online gun site The seller was sentenced to prison after pleading guilty to an illegal sale “People do it now Eecause it’s easy,” O’RourNe said “%ut if we say upfront that if you EreaN the law and you are going to go to prison, Post people are going to taNe a step EacN and say, µYou Nnow what" It’s not worth it”’ She and other gun control advocates said too Pany indi- viduals PaNe a living selling guns without oEtaining the $150 license and following reTuirePents to conduct EacNground checNs, Neep detailed sales records and face federal inspections Private sales ² often carried out in person after Internet advertisePents connect sellers and Euyers ² can Ee exploited Ey convicted felons, doPestic aEusers and others who cannot pass a EacNground checN, critics say Private sales have increasingly gone online over the last decade, Eut precise data is hard to pin down Gun%roNercoP, which calls itself the world’s largest online auction site for ¿rearPs and accessories, says it has grown every year since 1 It now Eoasts 750,000 active listings on any given day $rPslist claiPs 7 Pillion site visits per Ponth One in 20 guns advertised through $rPslist last year was linNed to an unlicensed seller who had listed at least 25 guns, according to recent research puElished Ey Everytown for Gun Safety, a gun control group EacNed Ey forPer 1ew YorN 0ayor 0ichael %looPEerg $ 201 investigation Ey that group’s predecessor, 0ayors $gainst Illegal Guns, found that Pore than percent of potential Euyers on $rPslist had criPinal records that would Ear theP froP owning ¿rearPs $rPslist, which was founded after Craigslist Eanned gun ads in 2007, says in a disclaiPer on its weEsite that it doesn’t get involved in transactions and that Euyers and sellers Pust follow all state and federal gun laws Still, guns sold through ads on the site have Eeen linNed to soPe fatal shootings $ lawsuit ¿led in OctoEer alleges that an aEusive husEand purchased a handgun through an $rPslist ad and used it to Nill his wife and two other woPen at a salon in suEurEan 0ilwauNee in 2012 The Pan, Radcliffe Haughton, was aEle to Euy the gun even though a judge had issued a restraining order days earlier that should have Pade hiP ineligiEle He went online to say he was “looNing to Euy $S$P,” and Pade the purchase in the parNing lot of a 0cDonald’s, the lawsuit says $rPslist owner Jonathan GiEEon called OEaPa’s Poves “well-Peaning Eut ultiPately ineffective” He said Pany private sellers want to conduct EacNground checNs Eut are discouraged Ey a “costly and Eurden- soPe” systeP that reTuires theP to go to licensed dealers and pay fees “Further scrutiny of law-aEiding people will not stop criPinals,” he said Everytown president John FeinElatt called the clari¿ca- tion a welcoPe if Podest step “It puts theP on notice and, if accoPpanied with aggressive enforcePent, has the potential to narrow the nuPEer of unlicensed dealers who are selling without EacNground checNs,” he said “%ut even so, Pillions of guns will Ee sold online without EacNground checNs unless Congress or states pass universal EacNground checNs, as 1 states have done on their own” The OEaPa adPinistra- tion appeared deterPined to taPp down expectations, with OEaPa saying he real- izes his actions won’t stop all gun violence “OEviously the president is not aEle to taNe strong Peasures Eecause that’s going to reTuire Congress to act,” said Philip CooN, a DuNe University professor “%ut if he is aEle to disrupt a relative handful of sales and save a handful of lives, that Pay well Ee worthwhile” He added: “What we’re looNing at here is a low-cost intervention with the possi- Eility of soPe payoff” TRANSPORTATION: State has $1670 in availaEle Eonding capacity Continued from 1A that’s shifted since the (2015 legislative session” Davis said an exaPple of a project that Pight Tualify for a federal freight grant is the Oregon DepartPent of Transportation plan to widen Interstate Highway 5 to three lanes through Portland’s Rose Quarter and iPprove highway raPps He is waiting for ODOT to produce a list of eligiEle projects Davis expects to unveil the Eill Ey early to Pid-January so that people can critiTue it and offer suggestions for iPprove- Pent $ny transportation funding Eill faces long odds in the short 2016 legislation session, which starts in FeEruary Gov .ate %rown, Senate President Peter Courtney, D-SaleP, and House SpeaNer Tina .oteN, D-Portland, have all said it is unliNely they will pass a transportation Eill this year Davis could also run into opposition Eecause his proposal would eliPinate part of the state’s low-carEon fuel prograP, although he is discussing the plan with environPental groups Davis was a PePEer of the Ei-partisan group of state lawPaNers that Gov .ate %rown duEEed the “gang of eight,” who Pet secretly toward the end of the 2015 legislative session to nego- tiate a transportation funding pacNage The legislation lost support after the Oregon DepartPent of Transporta- tion revealed the plan would not achieve the proPised reductions in greenhouse gas ePissions, which was a sticNing point for envi- ronPentalists Eecause the deal would have repealed the state’s low-carEon fuel standard RepuElicans had refused to support any increase in the state gas tax, a crucial funding source for transportation, while the fuel standard rePained in place Davis’ proposal would Podify the low-carEon fuel standard, so that fuel producers and iPporters would only Ee reTuired to reduce greenhouse gases Ey Elending Eiofuels with lower carEon content into gasoline and diesel Fuel coPpanies would no longer have to purchase carEon credits generated Ey electric vehicle charging stations and other Eusinesses in order to Peet the fuel standard The cost of the carEon credits fueled Puch of the opposition to the standard, Davis said The Oregon Environ- Pental CoPPission voted in DecePEer to delay enforcePent of the fuel standard until 201, and coPPissioners said they wanted freTuent updates on the supply and cost of alternative fuels and carEon credits Oregon’s low-carEon fuel standard is supposed to reduce ePissions froP trans- portation fuels Ey 10 percent over a decade So far, carEon credits sales under a siPilar prograP in California have increased the cost of gas Ey approxiPately 1 cent per gallon, Oregon Depart- STUDENT OF THE WEEK Ian Meakins I RRIGON H IGH S CHOOL Ian Meakins is a senior at Irrigon Jr/Sr High School who will graduate in June. He currently has a 3.81 GPA and is enrolled in Jazz Band, Honors English, Pre- Calculus, Government/Economics, Computer Science, and Careers. Ian is a member of pep band and also involved in 4-H. He will graduate with close to 30 college credits that he earned by taking advanced and honors courses in math, language arts, and computer science. Ian has taken karate lessons for 8 years and currently holds a black-belt. He plans to enlist in the Air Force after graduation and hopes to receive training in avionics or cyber security. Ian lives at home with his mother, father, and younger brother. Proudly Sponsored by P r op er t i es - H e rmist o n, L LC PATTI BURRES, Broker 541-571-5888 • pattiburres@eoni.com www.amwestprop.com Pent of EnvironPental Quality $ir Quality Planner Cory-$nn Wind told the coPPission in DecePEer $t this point, California has reduced carEon ePissions froP fuels Ey 1 percent Oregon has $167 Pillion in availaEle Eonding capacity froP the general fund during the current two-year Eudget cycle, Davis said That Eonding capacity rePained unallocated at the end of the 2015 legislative session, when lawPaNers decided against using it to overhaul the Capitol The Capitol project, which would upgrade the 1 Euilding to withstand earthTuaNes, is a top priority for Courtney However, Courtney’s plan ran into opposition froP Eoth parties after the WillaPette WeeN newspaper reported that Courtney had not inforPed other lawPaNers that the price tag increased to $337 Pillion and the project included extras such as an expanded cafe and gathering place for loEEyists, along with a 3,000-sTuare-foot “legislative lounge” Courtney was unavail- aEle to coPPent 0onday on Davis’ proposed use of the Eonding capacity “We’ve got the capacity right now, at very, very low interest rates that will only go up,” Davis said Finally, Davis said he wants to increase oversight of ODOT’s spending His legislation will create a special legislative coPPittee to review the agency’s spending and call for “soPe pretty roEust audits” ²²² The Capital Bureau is a collaboration between EO Media Group and Pamplin Media Group. Hillary Borrud can be reached at 503-364-4431 or hborrud@ eomediagroup.com. Wednesday, January 6, 2016 PENDLETON: 1eil %rown elected city council president Continued from 1A Peet theP, of¿cials can either provide an explana- tion for the shortfall and a recovery plan or reTuest the EenchParNs Ee revised to a lower expectation With operations previ- ously hindered Ey the F$$’s slowness in creating and adPinistering rules for the drone industry, Coun- cilor ToP Young expressed concern over how the range would Peet the Eench- ParNs “We haven’t Eeen hitting proPises that we’ve had for the past 1 Ponths, so what has changed that now all of a sudden we can hit these Petrics"” he said Steve ChrisPan, airport Panager and econoPic developPent director, said the F$$ is starting to grant the test ranges Pore author- ities in testing drones and the path toward testing has “rounded a corner” “If we can’t put people in the air, it’s all for naught,” he said One way the range could Peet SO$R Oregon’s EenchParNs is through a signed agreePent with the Paci¿c 1orthwest 1ational /aEoratory to do U$S training at the Eastern Oregon Regional $irport ChrisPan said the US DepartPent of Energy has granted funding for the training, with actual opera- tions expected to start over the next couple of Ponths as the laEoratory waits for various authorizations froP the F$$ ChrisPan said he prefers the range Panager position Ee privately contracted rather than a city-hired ePployee given the length of the grant “$ handful of folNs” have already approached the city interested in the position, ChrisPan said The council also unan- iPously elected Councilor 1eil %rown as council president, a role he served last year $s the council president, %rown will conduct city council Peet- ings if 0ayor Phillip HouN is aEsent ²²² Contact Antonio Sierra at asierra@eastoregonian. com or 541-966-0836. BRIEFLY State now taking applications for recreational pot licenses PORT/$1D ($P ² Oregon residents looNing to enter the recreational Parijuana Eusiness can now apply for a license The license paperworN EecaPe availaEle 0onday Porning at 6 aP $t noon, 70 people had suEPitted the forPs, The Oregonian reports Of those, 36 applications are froP producers, 1 for retail locations and eight for processors and eight for wholesalers Oregon has no liPit to the nuPEer of grower or retailer licenses it will issue $ report Ey the liTuor control coPPission estiPates the state will issue 50 recreational Parijuana licenses Ey the end of 2017 $Py 0argolis, a lawyer with EPerge /aw Group, which represents cannaEis Eusinesses, said she expects her ¿rP to ¿le aEout 30 applications this weeN The forPs reTuire everything froP security plans to electrical and water use inforPation CoPPission Executive Director Steve 0arNs said regulators are not liNely to approve any applications until after the Oregon /egislature Peets next Ponth Oregon is top relocation state in America S$/E0 ($P ² For the third year in a row, Pore people are Poving to Oregon than anywhere else in the nation The Statesman Journal reports that a study Ey United 9an /ines found that 6 percent of Poves to and froP Oregon in 2015 were inEound The state has increased inEound Pigration Ey 10 percent over the past six years $ccording to the study, 19 percent of people Poving to Oregon say they did so for retirePent $nother 19 percent say they caPe for the lifestyle Other popular states for those looNing to Pove were South Carolina, 9erPont, Idaho, 1orth Carolina, Florida, 1evada, Texas, Washington and Washington, DC
