A10
STATE
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, May 5, 2021
House OKs gun storage combined with partial ban on public places
from rural areas. Exceptions
were from Clackamas County,
where both Democratic Rep.
Meek and Republican Leader
Christine Drazan of Canby
spoke against it. No Republi-
cans voted for it.
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 elec-
tion on the law. The number is
set by the Oregon Constitution,
which specifi es 4% of the votes
cast for governor in the most
recent election in 2018.
Part of the revamped bill
proposes requirements for fi re-
arm locks and storage already
written into a separate House
bill, which the House sent back
to committee.
Under the revamped bill,
Revamped bill
heading back to state
Senate
By Peter Wong
Oregon Capital Bureau
The Oregon House, on
a largely party-line vote,
approved a bill that combines
storage requirements for fi re-
arms with a narrower ban on
guns in some public places.
The 34-24 vote on Thurs-
day sends the revamped Sen-
ate Bill 554 back to the Sen-
ate, which can vote to accept
the changes — and send it to
Gov. Kate Brown — or reject
it and force a joint panel to
negotiate 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
Contributed photo/Dreamstime
Legislation to require guns be locked is still moving through
committee. Other legislation has been sidetracked.
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 viola-
tion, which carries a maximum
fi ne of $500, unless someone
under age 18 obtains access, in
which case it is a Class A vio-
lation 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.
House passes bills to change policing
to report misconduct by offi cers or viola-
tions of standards.
“This bill by itself won’t do anything,”
Noble said. “This bill, combined with the
others that are coming before you, will
create the ability and the safety for police
offi cers to speak out when others act inap-
propriately, use excessive force, or just
generally are unfi t for the job.”
Bynum spoke about the experience
of Elijah Warren, who emerged from his
home in East Portland to talk to police
about the eff ects on his family of tear gas
they used to disperse a demonstration on
Sept. 5. While he did so, an offi cer struck
him on the ear with a baton. The offi cer
was found later to have been identifi ed in
other incidents of excessive force.
“Had offi cers not intervened, Mr.
Warren could have been hurt much
worse,” Bynum said. “Had other offi -
cers reported the other offi cer’s miscon-
duct earlier, Mr. Warren may never have
been struck.”
Bynum said the city of Portland, as
far as she knows, has not responded as to
whether the offi cer was disciplined.
“What we do know from report-
ing is that when offi cers do not inter-
vene to stop their colleagues’ miscon-
duct, it allows law enforcement to act
with impunity,” she said. “Whether it is
before, during or after an incident, that
is wrong.”
House Bill 2929 passed, 58-0. It
specifi es who should receive reports
of misconduct or violations (supervi-
sors), when they should start inves-
tigations (72 hours) and when they
should be completed (three months).
If there is substantial evidence to sup-
port them, reports must be fi led with
the state Department of Public Safety
Standards and Training.
By Peter Wong
Oregon Capital Bureau
Five bills aimed at changing polic-
ing practices, plus four related mea-
sures, have cleared the Oregon House by
near-unanimous votes.
All the bills go to the Senate. Five
other policing bills, which are likely to
aff ect state agencies, are pending in the
Legislature’s joint budget committee.
All emerged from the Judiciary Com-
mittee and a subcommittee focused on
policing. It follows up the work of a
2020 special session called by Gov. Kate
Brown after the murder of George Floyd
in Minneapolis last year. A former offi -
cer was convicted last week on charges
of murder and manslaughter; three other
offi cers are awaiting trial. Floyd’s death
touched off nationwide protests for racial
justice, among them more than 100
nights in Portland.
Rep. Janelle Bynum, a Democrat
from Clackamas who leads the full com-
mittee and the subcommittee, said law-
makers heard from local governments
and associations of police executives and
rank-and-fi le offi cers, not just groups
advocating sweeping change.
“I want to make it clear this was
not an opportunity to dig in and bash,”
Bynum, who is Black, said. “It was an
opportunity to create a community table,
where people around the state had a
chance to have some input on who pro-
tects them and their communities.”
Rep. Ron Noble, a Republican from
McMinnville, a former police chief of
that city and a former offi cer in Corval-
lis, said all the bills should be considered
in context — not individually. He made
his comments while speaking about
House Bill 2929, which requires police
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 fi rearms 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 re-
arms into some public places.
State courts, which often are in
buildings maintained by coun-
ties, already are off -limits to
fi rearms.
But the scope of the ban
would be narrower under the
House version.
Licensees would be barred
from bringing fi rearms into the
Capitol, though not from other
state buildings as originally
proposed in the Senate.
They would be barred from
bringing fi rearms into the pas-
senger terminal at the Port-
land airport, defi ned as one
with annual passenger traf-
fi c of more than one million.
(Eugene and Medford airports
had counts around one mil-
lion passengers annually prior
to the onset of the coronavirus
pandemic.) Passenger board-
ing areas and fi rearms ship-
ments in luggage are controlled
by federal law.
Firearms bans would be
optional at Oregon Health &
Science University, seven
state universities, 17 com-
munity college districts and
197 school districts if their
governing boards impose
them on buildings and
grounds under their con-
trol. Notices of bans must be
clearly displayed on build-
ings and grounds and posted
online. (Bans would not
apply to public sidewalks
and streets.)
The revamped version of
the bill drops the option for
cities, counties and special
districts to bar firearms from
their buildings and grounds.
Offenses would be con-
sidered Class A misdemean-
ors with maximum punish-
ments of one year in jail and
a fine of $6,250.
The bill also would raise
initial filing fees for con-
cealed handgun licenses
from $50 to $100, and for
renewals, from $50 to $75.
Brown defends powers in virus crisis as
Oregon tops nation in COVID-19 rate
restrictions, Oregon has one of the
lowest case rates and deaths since the
pandemic began spreading in the fi rst
months of 2020. Brown said deci-
sions often had to be made pitting
“lives and livelihoods.”
“As your governor, I chose to
save lives,” she said.
Brown said more than half of
state residents have been at least par-
tially vaccinated. The fi rst to receive
the vaccine were elderly people in
nursing homes, who made up more
than half the deaths from COVID-19
in the state. While the daily death toll
has fallen since its peak last winter,
Brown said the current infection rate
was rising too quickly and new vari-
ants that are more contagious and, in
some cases, lethal meant the recent
spike had to be taken as seriously as
earlier outbreaks.
Brown’s latest actions included
extending her authority over public
health by extending the emergency
declaration she issued in March 2020
until at least June 28.
The orders to instigate the extreme
risk and extend the emergency set
off protests from some political and
business leaders.
A Republican-led eff ort was
started in the Legislature to initiate
bills to curb Brown’s powers or bar
another extension.
“Literally everything in Orego-
nians’ lives are being dictated by one
person,” Sen. Tim Knopp, R-Bend,
said on the fl oor of the Senate on
Thursday.
A group of commissioners
By Gary A. Warner
Oregon Capital Bureau
Gov. Kate Brown said Friday that
she has no intention of rolling back
orders issued this week to fi ght the
nation’s worst rate of COVID-19
infections and hospitalizations now
hitting Oregon.
“Cases are widespread, driven
by new, more contagious variants,”
Brown said during a virtual press
conference Friday morning.
The Centers for Disease Control
reported Friday that Oregon has the
highest rate of new infections and
hospitalizations of any state in the
nation. Cases of COVID-19 have
risen 38% in the past two weeks,
while hospitalizations are up 43%.
Nationwide, both are in decline.
Fifteen counties already exceeded
the extreme risk numbers at the very
top of the state’s four-tier COVID-
19 risk chart. But Brown had ordered
that the counties would not need to
resort to the most severe restrictions
as long as the state’s hospital sys-
tem was not overly taxed. She set
300 COVID-19 hospitalizations as
the “tripwire” for restoring the ban
on indoor dining and strict limits on
activities and gatherings.
When cases topped 300 on April
26, Brown lifted the moratorium
on extreme risk limits, putting 15
counties into extreme risk restric-
tions April 30. On Friday, the state
reported 339 COVID-19 patients in
hospitals around the state.
With early and sometimes heavy
from 27 counties, along with the
Oregon Restaurant and Lodging
Association, sent a letter Tuesday to
Brown asking her to reconsider her
order and instead give local govern-
ments more control to make deci-
sions appropriate to their counties and
cities.
“The time has come to allow
our communities the opportunity
to move forward while embracing
continued health and safety precau-
tions,” the letter said.
Brown said she knew the pan-
demic had hammered small busi-
nesses, especially restaurants and
bars, who have been whipsawed by
closings, openings and restrictions
for more than a year. A special $20
million fund was being created by
the Legislature to go to businesses
that take a fi nancial hit under the lat-
est restrictions.
Oregon health offi cials have also
struggled with “vaccine hesitancy”
across the state from people unsure
of whether they should get inocu-
lated. But vaccinations have also
become a political statement, with
some counties in Republican areas
reporting a dwindling number of
people seeking shots.
Brown said supplies would be
redirected to areas where there is
still heavy demand. Lane County
announced Thursday that it would
receive triple the number of doses it
had been getting each week. Walk-in
vaccinations have also started spo-
radically, copying the statewide
eff orts in New York and California.
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