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Eagle file photo
BILL WOULD ALLOW
SCHOOLS AND PUBLIC
BUILDINGS TO BAN GUNS
Entities could create rules prohibiting guns in their
facilities, even for concealed handgun license holders
how those events end, and typically finds a rela-
tively small percentage are stopped by armed cit-
izens and unarmed citizens alike. The numbers
A bill that would allow local governments,
behind the FBI reports are sometimes disputed
school districts and universities to prohibit hand-
by gun rights advocates.
guns in public buildings is on its way to the Ore-
“There’s confusion about CHL holders and
gon Senate floor, following a tense committee
violent crime,” Senate Minority Leader Fred
hearing Thursday, Feb. 25.
Girod, R-Lyons, testified
Senate Bill 554 is the first gun
in a hearing Monday, Feb.
control bill of the 2021 legislative
22. “There’s a huge dif-
ference between the two.”
session to move toward a floor vote.
Though SB 554 did
And in normal fashion, the measure
not contemplate the Ore-
drew intense opposition from gun
gon Capitol, Girod said
owners.
he and his wife routinely
Currently, anyone with a con-
cealed handgun license in Oregon
carry guns in the building,
can legally bring their weapon into
and would not stop. “I’ll
buildings, such as city halls, pub-
be darned if I’m going to
lic university buildings, or public
be a sitting duck for a per-
son who wants to come
schools. SB 554 would not change
that, but it would allow governments,
in and start shooting,” he
school districts, ports and other enti-
said. “It’s just not right.”
ties to create their own rules banning
More generally, oppo-
PMG file photo nents of the bill have
firearms in their buildings.
Those bans would need to be Hundreds speak out against gun legislation at a Senate hearing Monday.
argued it will not make
made clear with signage and online
public buildings any
safer, since people planning
notices. Anyone violating the rules
could be subject to a class C felony.
Many people referred to claims that concealed to commit violence would disregard any weap-
SB 554 would also increase fees for apply- handgun licensees are less likely to be convicted ons ban. Gun rights advocates say the proposal
ing for a concealed handgun license from $50 to of a crime than police officers, though the data instead will needlessly put law-abiding gun own-
$100, and the fee for renewing a license from $50 surrounding that comparison is fuzzy.
ers at risk of committing felonies as they encoun-
to $75.
Others have argued that people with con- ter a patchwork of varying restrictions on where
In committee hearings and hundreds of pieces cealed-carry licenses are a last defense against they can carry.
of written testimony, opponents of the bill argued criminals and mass shooters. The FBI tracks
See Guns, Page A16
that it amounted to an unnecessary infringement active shooter incidents in the U.S., along with
By Dirk Vanderhart
Oregon Public Broadcasting
on gun rights. Many pointed out that concealed
handgun licensees need to pass background
checks and must meet a range of requirements,
including not having misdemeanor convictions
within four years and no outstanding warrants.
Those requirements, opponents say, mean
that CHL holders tend to be law-abiding citizens.
By Gary A. Warner
Oregon Capital Bureau
A one-day Republican walkout in the
Oregon Senate on Thursday was sparked
by Gov. Kate Brown’s announcement
that she will extend the COVID-19 state
of emergency until May 2.
State Sen. Lynn Findley, R-Vale, said
the GOP’s boycott of Thursday’s floor
session at the state Legislature was about
getting the Democratic party’s attention.
He said it was not a “walkout,” and
more than anything else, it was a “quo-
rum denial” to make a point that the Leg-
islature needs to stop “messing around”
with gun legislation and other “recycled
legislation.”
“We need to fix the important things:
OCB file photo
Senate President Peter Courtney looks
out over empty Republican desks in the
Oregon Senate June 20, 2019. Senate
Republicans staged another no-show on
Thursday, Feb. 25.
get the kids back into school, get vac-
cinations in people’s arms and get our
economy back together,” Findley said.
Nonetheless, Findley said his biparti-
san work continues. He said he worked
with Democrats all day Thursday in
committees.
Two
convictions
against
Peterson
reversed
on appeal
Appeals court rules
fire district could
not have acquired
vehicles in question
before filing articles
of incorporation
By Sean Hart
Blue Mountain Eagle
“We just wanted to say, ‘Let’s refocus
our efforts to getting kids in school,
dealing with the vaccination problem
and start supporting our businesses to
keep them open,’” Findley said.
The Republicans sent a letter to
Brown protesting her decision and
other COVID-19 restrictions and call-
ing on her to support reopening the
state Capitol, which has been closed
since March 2020.
“We need an open process for our
constituents to engage in testimony on
bills,” said Sen. Bill Hansell, R-Pend-
leton. “We want transparency so peo-
ple can have a voice in what is going
on.”
Hansell said he was taking part in
virtual committee hearings on Thurs-
day and will continue until the next
scheduled Senate floor session on
March 3.
Two out of three convic-
tions against former Monu-
ment fire chief Roy Peterson
have been overturned by the
Oregon Court of Appeals.
The appeals court ruled
Feb. 3 that the trial court should
have granted Peterson’s motion
for judgment of acquittal on a
charge of aggravated first-de-
gree theft and a charge of pos-
session of a stolen vehicle
because the state did not prove
that the Monument Rural Fire
District owned the firefight-
ing vehicles in question — and
that the MRFD could not have
owned the vehicles at the time
of the alleged theft in 2013
because the district was inca-
pable of conducting business
until January 2014 when it filed
articles of incorporation.
“Roy Peterson has main-
tained from the outset that his
possession of the vehicles and
equipment was in keeping with
the law, and that the allegation
by his accusers that his posses-
sion was illegal were false and
contrary to the law,” said Peter-
son’s attorneys Benjamin D.
Boyd and D. Zachary Hostet-
ter of Hostetter Law Group in a
statement. “We are pleased that
the Oregon Court of Appeals
has confirmed the legal posi-
tion of Mr. Peterson.”
The appeals court reversed
the two convictions and
remanded them to the lower
court for resentencing. The
appeals
court
otherwise
affirmed the lower court’s rul-
ing, including a conviction on a
charge of first-degree theft.
The charges stem from
Peterson’s acquisition of
resources — money and equip-
ment — for fire protection
in Monument and his subse-
quent refusal to turn over the
resources to the Monument
Rural Fire District, which was
formed by voters in November
of 2012.
See Walkout, Page A16
See Peterson, Page A16
Senate Republicans stage one-day walkout
to protest Brown’s emergency order
Findley: ‘Quorum denial’
necessary to make a point,
bipartisan work continues
Roy Peterson leaves Grant
County Circuit Court in 2017
after admitting to violating
the terms of his probation by
illegally recording a conver-
sation with his former proba-
tion officer. Two out of three
convictions against Peterson
related to theft were over-
turned by the Oregon Court of
Appeals.