OREGON
Saturday, May 1, 2021
East Oregonian
A9
House OKs gun storage combined Oregonians’ faith in
with partial ban on public places democracy eroding
By PETER WONG
Oregon Capital Bureau
SALEM — The Oregon
House, on a largely party-
line vote, approved a bill that
combines storage require-
ments for firearms with a
narrower ban on guns in
some public places.
The 34-24 vote on Thurs-
day, April 29, sends the
revamped Senate Bill 554
back to the Senate, which can
vote to accept the changes
— and send it to Gov. Kate
Brown — or reject it and
force a joint panel to negoti-
ate the diff erences.
Support came exclusively
from Democrats. Three of
the 37 Democrats voted no:
Paul Evans of Monmouth,
David Gomberg of Otis and
Mark Meek of Oregon City.
Opposition came largely
from Republicans, mostly
from rural areas. Excep-
tions were from Clacka-
mas County, where both
Democratic Rep. Meek and
Republican Leader Chris-
tine Drazan of Canby spoke
against it. No Republicans
voted for it.
“This is a misguided
proposal that will do noth-
ing to affect gun violence
in our state while criminal-
izing our most law-abid-
Jonathan Levinson/Oregon Public Broadcasting, File
Sgt. Brandon White of the Multnomah County Sheriff ’s Of-
fi ce puts a cable lock on a training Glock on Jan. 14, 2019, in
Portland.
ing citizens,” Rep. Bobby
Levy, R-Echo, said in a press
release. “Meanwhile, the
majority party is ignoring the
serious mental health crisis
among our kids that only gets
worse the longer they are out
of school. Science supports
getting kids back to school.
That’s what we should
be doing instead of pass-
ing legislation that directly
challenges Supreme Court
rulings and violates consti-
tutional rights.”
Two Republicans were
excused.
The vote took place after
close to three hours of debate.
The bill does not have an
emergency clause, which
means that if it becomes law,
opponents have 90 days from
the close of the 2021 session
to obtain 74,680 voter signa-
tures to force a statewide
election. The number is set
by the Oregon Constitution,
which specifies 4% of the
votes cast for governor in the
most recent election in 2018.
Part of the revamped bill
proposes requirements for
fi rearms locks and storage
already written into a sepa-
rate House bill, which the
House sent back to commit-
tee.
Under the revamped bill,
guns must have trigger or
cable locks, be stored in a
locked container or in a gun
room. An off ense is a Class
C violation, which carries
a maximum fine of $500,
unless someone under age 18
obtains access, in which case
it is a Class A violation with
a maximum fi ne of $2,000.
No jail time is imposed for
violations.
The bill also requires
prompt reporting of stolen
fi rearms. Its fi rst sections
are named in honor of
Cindy Yuille and Steve
Forsyth, who died on Dec.
11, 2012, in the Clackamas
Town Center shootings. The
assault-style weapon used to
kill them was found to have
been stolen.
The other part of the
revamped bill narrows the
scope of a firearms ban
included in the original SB
554, which passed the Senate
on March 25.
The changes would
still bar the estimated
300,000 holders of Oregon
concealed-handgun licenses
from bringing fi rearms into
some public places. State
courts, which often are in
buildings maintained by
counties, already are off -lim-
its to fi rearms.
Gov. Brown extends emergency as virus cases spike
Associated Press
SALEM — Gov. Kate
Brown on Thursday, April
29, extended Oregon’s state
of emergency for COVID-
19 until June 28, saying a
fourth surge of the pandemic
is being driven by variants
of the disease and causing
increased cases and hospi-
talizations.
The declaration allows
Brown to issue executive
orders restricting activity
and helps the state utilize
federal COVID-relief funds,
the governor’s offi ce said.
Brown put 15 counties
that encompass the state’s
biggest cities into the state’s
extreme risk category start-
ing Friday, April 30, impos-
ing restrictions that include
banning indoor restaurant
dining.
The restaurant sector has
objected to Brown’s action,
with the Oregon Restau-
rant & Lodging Associ-
ation declaring the state
lost more than 1,000 food
service businesses in 2020
and that 200 more closed
permanently so far this year.
Brown says her actions
are temporary.
“I intend to fully reopen
our economy by the end
of June, and the day is
approaching when my emer-
gency orders can eventually
be lifted,” Brown said in a
statement. “How quickly we
get there is up to each and
every one of us doing our
part.”
Brown said more than
1.2 million people in the
state have been fully vacci-
nated, but the “overwhelm-
ing majority” of new cases
are from younger, unvac-
cinated residents. Oregon’s
population is more than 4.2
million.
She said hospitalizations
nearly doubled in the last
two weeks, to more than
300.
BY ZANE SPARLING
Oregon Capital Bureau
SALEM — Faith in
democracy has dimmed.
After years of tumult,
riots, economic uncertainty
and low blow politics — not
to mention a global pandemic
— nearly 7 out of every 10
Oregonians believe democ-
racy has weakened across the
United States over the past
four years.
Residents describe a
slightly more fortifi ed state
of aff airs closer to home, with
roughly 6 out of 10 statewide
saying democracy in Oregon
has diminished over the last
four years.
The Oregon Values and
Beliefs Center, a nonprofit
created by DHM Research
fou nder Adam Davis,
compiled those results after
surveying 600 residents,
selected to be statistically
representative of the state, in
early March. The margin of
error is 4%.
Here are the hard numbers:
• More than two-thirds
(69%) say American democ-
racy has weakened in the
past four years, compared
with 22% who say it is stron-
ger and 9% who were unsure.
Seniors (77%) and self-iden-
tifi ed liberals (78%) are more
likely to see an attenuation of
democratic strength, while
conservatives (30%) and
rural residents (33%) have a
larger share who see Amer-
ican democracy as stronger
now than before.
• Oregon democracy gets
slightly higher marks, with
one-quarter of the population
(25%) saying it has beefed up
in the past four years, 61%
saying it has weakened and
14% unsure. White people
(63%) are signifi cantly more
likely to believe Oregon’s
representative government
has weakened compared
to non-white people (48%).
Democrats (37%) and college
grads (35%) are more likely to
see the system as bulking up.
Despite their belief in a
faltering form of govern-
ment, Oregonians are essen-
tially split 50-50 when asked
to rate their satisfaction with
the way democracy actually
performs, on Capitol Hill and
in Salem.
• Nearly half (45%) are
satisfied with American
democracy, compared with
51% who aren’t and 4% who
are unsure. Portland metro
area (49%) and Democrats
(57%) are more likely to be
satisfied, compared with
more than half of suburban-
ites (56%) and Republicans
(55%) who said they aren’t
satisfi ed.
• Once again, Oregon
scores a tad higher than
America as a whole, with 49%
satisfi ed with Oregon democ-
racy and 46% unsatisfi ed and
4% unsure. Urban dwellers
(59%) are statistically more
likely to be satisfi ed than rural
residents (34%).
The Oregon Values and
Beliefs Center asked poll
respondents to describe why
they believe Oregon democ-
racy has strengthened — or
weakened — over the past
four years. Here’s what they
said: It has strengthened:
• “Because we have Demo-
cratic leadership. States with
the GOP are severely hurting
us.”
• “More acceptance of
people of color.”
• “People in Oregon care
about what is going on and
take action.”
• “Because of our gover-
nor, Kate Brown.”
It has weakened:
• “One party rule. GOP
has become more irrelevant
and radical. No real counter
to Democrats.”
• “We don’t seem to care
much that our governor’s
‘emergency COVID powers’
have gone on for a year.”
• “Liberals ... they want
larger government, more
controls and higher taxes.”
• “An uptick in violence in
the larger cities.”