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State Blue Mountain Eagle Wednesday, February 14, 2018 A7 Lawmakers seek to close gun loophole By Paris Achen Capital Bureau State lawmakers say they plan to advance a bill that would prohibit abusers and stalkers from owning or pos- sessing firearms. The leg- islation also would require Oregon State Police to notify other law enforcement when they learn someone has tried to obtain a gun illegally. Gov. Kate Brown identi- fied the law change as one of her priorities almost two years ago, and she was first to speak in favor of it during a hearing in front of the House Judiciary Committee Feb. 7. She recounted how a year ago, she had visited Oregon State Trooper Nic Cederberg in the hospital after he was shot 12 times while respond- ing to a domestic violence call on Christmas night in King City in Washington County. Twenty-four-year-old Kate Armand was shot and killed by her estranged husband. When Cederberg responded, Armand’s husband shot the trooper 12 times in 50 sec- onds. “I made a promise (to Ced- erberg) that I would continue to do everything I can to keep victims and law enforcement officers safe from this kind of senseless violence,” Brown said. She said her resolve gained urgency when she learned that in the month after Ar- mand was killed, another 16 Oregonians lost their lives in domestic violence-related incidents, according to a Jan. 18 report by the Oregon Do- mestic Violence Fatality Re- view Team. House Bill 4145 would expand prohibitions on do- mestic abusers having guns to include dating partners and stalkers. Existing law ap- plies to only spouses, former spouses and couples who are cohabitating. Audit: State tracking, licensing system for pot needs improvement Capital Bureau/Paris Achen Salem resident Madeleine Garcelon holds up a photo of herself, right, and her daughter, Nicolette Elias, who was murdered by her ex-husband in Southwest Portland in 2014. She spoke at the Oregon State Capitol in Salem Feb. 7 during a hearing on House Bill 4145. The legislation is aimed at protecting domestic violence survivors from gun violence. “Family definitions have changed since I began my ca- reer,” said Rep. Carla Piluso, a former Gresham police chief. “It is important the definition in Oregon’s law that protects family members from abuse in the home are updated to Proposal would base depredation funding on wolf population livestock kills, said Paige Spence, the group’s Oregon conservation network direc- A proposal tying the tor. “Predation rates have not amount of money available to ranchers for livestock losses increased with Oregon’s in- to Oregon’s wolf population creased wolf population,” she said. has cleared its first hurdle. Sean Stevens, execu- Under House Bill 4106, Oregon lawmakers would tive director of the Oregon Wild environ- be required to mental group, appropriate said problems money to the with fraud and state’s wolf abuse of the compensation wolf compen- fund based on sation fund the population should be re- of the species, solved before to the extent the program is practicable. expanded. The bill was Counties scheduled for a have recom- possible work mended the session during disbursal of the meeting of compensation the House Ag- riculture Com- funds without mittee on Feb. Courtesy photo/Oregon Depart- sufficient in- ment of Fish and Wildlife put from local 15, allowing committees, the proposal A bill that would to survive an increase compensation sometimes in areas with no initial legis- for livestock losses lative dead- based on Oregon’s wolves or con- firmed dep- line, said Rep. wolf population has redations, he Brian Clem, survived an initial said. D-Salem, the legislative deadline. Childers, c o m m i t t e e ’s chair. the Wallowa Several ranchers testified County rancher, said that that it only makes sense to wolf compensation funds are increase compensation fund- well-vetted. ing as the number of wolves “We do the best we can in Oregon continues rising. on the ground,” he said. “I State wildlife regulators cur- don’t believe there’s wide- rently peg the wolf popula- spread fraud in any of our tion at more than 100, though programs.” some ranchers consider this a In some cases, wolf com- pensation funds are used low estimate. In Wallowa County, to prepare for the arrival of which is home to eight con- wolves in regions they’ve firmed wolf packs, it costs yet to be documented, said up to $30,000 a year to Todd Nash, a rancher and have a range rider patrol chair of the Oregon Cattle- for the predators, said Rod men’s Association’s wolf Childers, a rancher in the committee. area. For example, the money “One range rider is not pays for the disposal of live- cutting it,” he said. “There’s stock and wildlife carcasses, no way he can respond to all which would otherwise at- tract predators, as well as the those different packs.” The Oregon League of installation of fladry, which Conservation Voters opposes is rope adorned with ribbons HB 4106 because it would to deter predators. “If they’re being proac- confirm the “falsehood” that rising wolf populations will tive, that’s a wonderful thing, necessarily result in more isn’t it?” Nash said. Capital Bureau Capital Bureau Oregon’s systems for licensing and tracking rec- reational marijuana have weaknesses that could allow illegal activity to fly under the radar, state auditors say. The recreational mari- juana program also lacks important security measures that could protect sensitive information and IT infra- structure from being com- promised. The Oregon Liquor Con- trol Commission helps reg- ulate the recreational mar- ijuana program, including issuing licenses to produc- ers, retailers and others in the recreational marijuana business. The agency also runs the “seed-to-sale” tracking program that is in- tended to track marijuana on its journey to market. Among other issues au- ditors found, data in the cannabis tracking system is self-reported by cannabis businesses, raising auditors’ concerns about its reliability. There aren’t enough trained compliance inspec- tors to adequately keep an eye on recreational marijua- na activity. And auditors also found that the OLCC lacks an overall IT security man- agement plan for the agency and a disaster recovery plan for its information. The Feb. 7 audit report comes as there’s renewed attention on marijuana, es- pecially in states that have legalized the substance. In early January, Attor- ney General Jeff Sessions issued guidance to U.S. at- torneys in states that have legalized marijuana saying they may use their discretion when it comes to prosecuting marijuana cases. Marijuana remains illegal under the fed- eral Controlled Substances Act. U.S. Attorney for Oregon Billy Williams said at a mar- ijuana conference he hosted recently that Oregon produc- es far more marijuana than Capital Bureau/Mateusz Perkowski Marijuana plants grow in a high tunnel at a farm near McMinnville. A state audit says Oregon’s licensing system could make it difficult to detect illegal activity. Oregonians can consume, and that product is leaking into the black market. Oregon voters approved recreational marijuana in a November 2014 ballot mea- sure. Recreational marijuana became legal on July 1, 2015. The popularity of the pro- gram is greater than state of- ficials had expected. Through November 2017, the state had collected about $115.5 million in state mari- juana taxes since retail sales began in January 2016, ac- cording to the audit. OLCC Executive Director Steve Marks said in a written response to the audit that the agency “is actively following up on all aspects of the audit” and wants to get more mon- ey to “move forward” on the technology issues raised by the audit. when an offender tries to transfer or purchase a firearm illegally. Such an information-shar- ing requirement might have made a difference for domes- tic abuse survivors who later lost their lives to gun violence by their abusers, said Salem resident Madeleine Garce- lon, the mother of a Portland woman killed by her ex-hus- band. Garcelon testified in fa- vor of the bill. Nicolette Elias, 46, was killed in Southwest Portland by her ex-husband despite a restraining order and a pro- hibition against him having a gun. Somehow, he obtained a firearm illegally and used it to end Elias’ life and kill him- self. “I am using my voice to honor Nicolette to help pro- tect other women and children who are at risk of suffering a tragedy like my daughter and granddaughters,” Garcelon said. Wolf compensation bill clears initial hurdle By Mateusz Perkowski By Claire Withycombe protect today’s families.” The National Rifle As- sociation opposes the law change, said Keely Hopkins, the Oregon liaison for the NRA. The bill fails to ade- quately define the relation- ships that would be subject to the prohibition on posses- sion of weapons and gives no limit for how far back that relationship might have occurred, Hopkins said. When a firearm is within reach of an abuser, the risk of homicide is extreme, said Piluso, D-Gresham. Statis- tics bear that out. Out of the nearly 1,700 women killed by men nationwide in 2015, 93 percent were killed by a man they knew. A majority of the women were killed with firearms during the course of an argument, according to a study by the nonprofit Vio- lence Policy Center. The bill also would re- quire OSP to notify local law enforcement within 24 hours TREAT YOUR FEET “ We do the best we can on the ground. I don’t believe there’s widespread fraud in any of our programs.” Rod Childers Wallowa County rancher Baker City 2830 10th St. 541-524-0122 Every other Monday in John Day 170 Ford Rd. 541-575-1311 Our Services by a registered nurse include: • Pedi-Spa treatment for your feet • Particular attention to Diabetic Foot • Multifunctional massage chair • Skin Inspection • Callus Removal • Nail Cutting We also check your blood pressure, blood sugar level and oxygen saturation. Call 541- 575-1648 for an appointment $35 00 fee Blue Mountain Hospital 541-523-6377 541-963-6577 541-573-6377 FOOT CLINIC 541-576-2160 38712 www.bluemountainhospital.org Services available at the Home Health Office, 422 W. Main, John Day.
