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Blue Mountain Eagle
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GUN
Continued from Page A1
“I think it’s silly, of
course,” he said. “I don’t
think there’s any gray area
whatsoever. The Second
Amendment doesn’t allow
for deviation — ‘the right of
people to keep and bear arms
shall not be infringed,’” he
said. “There’s a fundamental
problem with the U.S. Su-
preme Court’s interpretation
(of the amendment).”
“I would call the ban un-
constitutional,” Leuenberg-
er said. “But that’s just one
man’s opinion. In order to
have the right to do some-
thing, you have to convince a
panel of judges you have the
right.”
Rep. Greg Barreto of
Cove, the deputy leader for
the Oregon House Republi-
cans, said the ban was a top-
ic of discussion at the party
caucus last week. He said
he is doubtful the gun ban is
constitutional.
“Right now, I don’t think
they can do that,” Barreto
said.
Legislative counsel is
looking at the policy and has
yet to offer an opinion, but
Barreto said his constituents
have already weighed in.
“I’ve heard from a lot of
them, and none of them see it
as a good idea,” Barreto said.
Barreto owns a manu-
facturing business in Union
County and said he has em-
ployees who pack. He said
he’s OK with that because
businesses have the right to
set policies as long as they
don’t break the law.
“But that’s different in the
public arena,” he said.
Rule support
Some citizens think the
ban has merit. Paul Kemp,
of the group Gun Owners
for Responsible Gun Own-
ership, said his organization
sees the ban as an update of a
current rule.
“My understanding is
that this is an attempt by the
governor’s offi ce to clarify
an already-existing human
resource policy that was im-
plemented almost 20 years
ago,” Kemp said. “They
haven’t taken anyone’s gun
away. They’ve asked them
not to bring it into the work-
place. It’s within the privi-
lege of the governor to make
that order.”
He added that Governor
Kate Brown has been very
supportive of gun violence
prevention measures.
“Do we have to wait until
there’s a shooting in a state
I would call the ban
unconstitutional. But that’s just
one man’s opinion.”
James Leuenberger
a Medford attorney
offi ce building to say, ‘the
governor was right?’” Kemp
said.
Kemp said one goal of his
group is to advocate for safe
storage laws for guns — of
which Oregon has none. He
said Oregon’s requirements
for getting a concealed hand-
gun license are also fairly
loose and require no training,
which members of his orga-
nization fi nd risky.
The group was formed
in 2012 after a shooting at
Clackamas Town Center.
The two victims were related
to Kemp and another group
member.
The shooter, who did not
know either victim, got the
gun from a friend who had
purchased it legally but left
it fully loaded and unlocked.
Kemp said one of the big-
gest problems with Oregon’s
lack of safe storage laws is
that it allows access to peo-
ple who shouldn’t have it.
“Us in the group — our
guns are secured,” he said,
adding that when their guns
are not with them, they’re se-
cured and unloaded.
Kemp said his group
hopes advocating for safe
storage and responsible han-
dling of guns will cut down
on suicides and accidents —
especially with young kids.
“There are too many
kids getting injured or killed
senselessly,” he said. “Sui-
cides, too. If you put a tem-
porary road bump, make
them more diffi cult to access
— you reduce the ability for
someone to act on impulse
— you can make a change.”
DAS perspective
Matt Shelby is the spokes-
person for the Department of
Administrative Services. He
said the policy applies only
to state employees in state
buildings, not the general
public in state buildings.
While some policy revi-
sions come down from on
high, he said this was not one
of them.
“This was a response to
requests the (human resourc-
es) shop was getting from
state employees,” Shelby
said.
Administrative Services
policy has banned weap-
ons in state facilities since
1998, but Shelby said it was
a “blanket, no-weapons DAS
buildings policy,” and “silent
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on concealed carry.”
However, the Legislature
is the only body that can set a
law governing fi rearms, and
the overly broad policy could
read like a law.
“It was not really enforce-
able,” he said. “It didn’t align
with state law or the Consti-
tution.”
Several state agencies
also had specifi c weapon
restrictions as conditions of
employment, such as the De-
partment of Human Services,
the Oregon Youth Authority
and Oregon Department of
Corrections.
The change for correc-
tions came in the wake of the
2011 murder of Buddy Ray
Herron of Helix. The hus-
band and father was on his
way to his job as a correc-
tions offi cer at Eastern Ore-
gon Correctional Institution,
Pendleton, when he stopped
on Highway 11 to help a mo-
torist. That man stabbed and
killed Herron and is serving a
life sentence for the murder.
“As a result of that,”
Shelby said, “the DOC got
a statutory change to allow
their corrections officers to
carry on their way to and
from work.”
Uncertainty about guns
in state workplaces re-
mained, however, so Ad-
ministrative Services’ hu-
man resources staff started
looking into the issue and
found the old facilities pol-
icy. That began the process
of developing a more for-
mal and legal policy. The
work took about a year,
he said, and included in-
put from human resources
across the state, as well as
Oregon State Police and the
Oregon Department of Jus-
tice.
The new policy narrows
the weapons restrictions to
just state employees. DAS
does not have the authority
to regulate or restrict fire-
arms for the general public,
he said, “but as an employ-
er, just like any other em-
ployer, we have the abili-
ty to restrict weapons as a
condition of employment.”
Some cities, including
Wednesday, February 15, 2017
Portland, have banned guns
in public spaces. Shelby
said this state policy does
not go that far.
“We are certainly not
restricting visitors, people
who are not employees of
the state of Oregon,” he
said. “We are not restricting
their ability to conceal to
carry — if they have a per-
mit — from carrying in our
buildings.”
Administrative Services
has received a lot of pos-
itive feedback from state
employees, he said, thank-
ing the agency for the clar-
ification. He also acknowl-
edged restrictions on guns
raise red flags for plenty of
people.
“And we get that,” Shel-
by said. “The reason this
policy was created: We
were receiving request for
clarification and we provid-
ed it.”
They also said the poli-
cy aligns with the kinds of
weapons restrictions Ore-
gon cities and counties use
as conditions for employ-
ment.
No policy cops
“At the end of the day,
this is like any other HR-
type policy,” Shelby said.
“From proper use of email
to offensive language at
work. And we don’t have
policy cops that go around
and try to regulate that kind
of stuff. It’s more of a com-
plaint-driven process.”
Employees who spot a
violation can reach out to
a supervisor or their human
resources office. And like
any other policy violations,
discipline would be pro-
gressive.
Lawmakers can address
the policy, but Starrett with
the Oregon Firearms Feder-
ation said he does not see
that happening, and the fed-
eration is not pushing for
it. The chance for any suc-
cess is minimal given the
Democrat majority in the
Legislature and the Demo-
crat governor. And there’s
another reason the feder-
ation is not going to fight
this.
“To be honest with you,
I think this is an issue that
public employees should be
addressing,” Starrett said.
“I think at this point, it is
going to be up to them to
do it.”
A3
The Eagle/Angel Carpenter
Bob Shrive, left, of the DeWitt Museum in Prairie City
says the grant funding will be used for an interactive
room in the museum dedicated to town of Bates.
Standing by Shrive is Chris Lewallen, a member of the
Juniper Arts Council.
Juniper Arts members
hand out grants
A total of $4,550
in funding is
awarded
By Angel Carpenter
Blue Mountain Eagle
Six Grant County orga-
nizations received a total of
$4,550 in Oregon Cultural
Trust funding for their art-re-
lated projects.
Kris Beal, president of the
Juniper Arts Council, wel-
comed an audience of about
20 to the council’s meeting
Thursday. Beal said Juniper
Arts exists to promote arts and
arts culture in the county.
Oregon Cultural Trust
grants money for projects in
Grant County through Juniper
Arts, their fi scal agent. Beal
said the Cultural Trust gives
grants to all the counties in
Oregon for everything from
the Shakespearean Festival
in Ashland to the Fox Valley
Church, which received a
fresh coat of paint and oth-
er renovations last year, as
well as an artist in residence
at Grant Union Junior-Senior
High School.
Of the six county organi-
zations requesting funding,
only one was not fully fund-
ed. Beal, vice president Chris
Lewallen and several other
council members helped hand
out the grants.
Beal gave a special high-
light of the council’s two
youth members Alexis Ha-
fer and Shiranne Carter, both
Grant Union seniors.
“They have done an out-
standing job attending all the
meetings,” she said, adding
Grant
recipients
• Denise Porter and Jenni-
fer Garinger of Long Creek
School, who received $760
for improvements to lighting
and sound for the school’s
stage.
• Ashley Armichardy, the
Blue Mountain Community
College coordinator, $790
for easels to be used for “fun,
interactive, basic art lessons”
on a monthly or bimonthly
basis.
• Bob Shive of the DeWitt
Museum in Prairie City,
$750, for an interactive room
at the museum dedicated to
the town of Bates.
• Jeannette Harrison and
Jeanne Day of the Grant
County Genealogical Soci-
ety, $250, to host a genealogy
seminar speaker. The group is
holding a genealogy seminar
on April 15 at the Mt. Vernon
Community Center.
• Kathy Smith and Judy Ja-
cobs of the Prairie City Com-
munity Association, $1,500
for electrical upgrades to the
Prairie City Community Cen-
ter.
• Shelly Whale and Cindy
Kalin of HEART of Grant
County, $500 for art therapy
to help those affected by do-
mestic and dating violence.
some junior high students will
also begin participating in the
council.
Juniper Arts meetings are
held on the second Thursday
of each month at 5:30 p.m. at
the John Day Fire Hall.
“More members are wel-
come to join,” Beal said.
WE NEED
YOUR HELP!
The Chamber office is
receiving numerous requests
everyday for lodging and RV
camping spots for the Solar
Eclipse coming in August. We
desperately need more
available space and we would
appreciate hearing from you if
you have anything available.
This will be a great
opportunity for you to make a
few extra dollars. Spaces are
now being rented from $50-
$200 per night.
Our board and business
meeting will be Feb. 15, 11:00
AM at the Chamber of
Commerce Office and noon at
the Outpost discussing
Chamber Activities and
Eclipse. See you there.
Monday - Thursday
7am- 6pm
Friday 8am - 5pm
Mendy Sharpe FNP
Apppointments
available
05294