Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 2, 2022)
A10 NEWS Blue Mountain Eagle Wednesday, November 2, 2022 Measure 114 ups ante on gun control By PETER WONG Oregon Capital Bureau SALEM — Measure 114 is not the fi rst proposed gun regulation to prompt a public debate in Oregon. But it is the fi rst on a statewide ballot in more than 20 years, since voters in 2000 approved criminal background checks for pur- chasers at gun shows. The Legislature has passed several bills in the past eight years, including a 2021 law requiring safe stor- age of fi rearms and enabling public schools, community colleges and state univer- sities to ban fi rearms from their grounds. Like the 2000 measure, Measure 114 is an initiative that qualifi ed for the bal- lot by petitions sponsored by Lift Every Voice Ore- gon, a coalition of religious and other organizations. The petition drive stalled until the May 24 mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, where 19 children and two adults died. But it is opposed by gun rights advocates, including the Oregon Hunters Associ- ation, Oregon State Shoot- ing Association, Oregon Gun Owners and Oregon Fire- arms Federation. The Ore- gon State Sheriff s Associa- tion also opposes it. Of the major candidates for governor, only Demo- crat Tina Kotek supports it; Republican Christine Dra- zan and unaffi liated candi- date Betsy Johnson oppose it. They also were on oppos- ing sides of the 2021 law, which passed as Senate Bill 554. (A petition drive came up short to force a statewide vote on it.) Gun violence has been prominent recently with two deaths Aug. 28 at a super- market in Bend and two stu- Kathy Aney/East Oregonian, File Clay Winton, owner of Crosshair Customs in Baker City, chats with customers March 11, 2018, at the Pendleton Gun Show. The passage of Measure 114 would make obtaining a gun more diffi cult and outlaw magazines that hold more than 10 rounds. dents wounded in a drive-by shooting Oct. 18 near Jeff er- son High School in Portland. A summary Key provisions of Mea- sure 114: • Firearms training: Peo- ple must complete safety instruction, including class- room work and live-fi re exercises, before city police or county sheriff s can issue them permits to buy or get guns. Such permits must be issued or denied within 30 days, and are valid for fi ve years. Permits do not limit the number of fi rearms that can be obtained. The training is at people’s own expense, and must be conducted by instructors certifi ed by police. Police can deny purchase permits if they deem peo- ple to be a danger to them- selves or others. Police can seize permits if the holders are accused of crimes that otherwise would disqualify them from obtaining permits. There is an appeals process with a limit of 15 business days for a decision. These requirements apply to purchasers, but they are not retroactive to current fi rearms owners. • Background checks: State police will continue to conduct such checks — the maximum fee is $65; for renewals, $50 — and compile a database of pur- chase permits that local agen- cies approve or deny, and why applications are denied. Annual reports by county are required starting in January 2024. Checks must be com- pleted; state police have 24 hours to determine if appli- cants are barred from pos- sessing fi rearms under one of four categories, although reports may be delayed lon- ger if needed to complete investigations. • Ammunition magazines: They are limited to 10 rounds. Within six months of the measure’s approval, sale, use or possession of larger-ca- pacity magazines is a Class A misdemeanor. Exceptions are made for use on the property of a fi rearms owner, at shoot- ing ranges and competitions, and hunting while consis- tent with regulations. Trans- port to a permissible location is a legal defense if the mag- azines are secured separately from fi rearms. What supporters say According to Centers for Disease Control and Pre- vention statistics, Oregon recorded 592 deaths by fi re- arms in 2020, the latest year available, for a rate of 13 per 100,000 population. The comparable rate for neighbor- ing states: Washington, 10.9; California, 8.5; Nevada, 17; Idaho, 17.6. Measure 114 advocates say that unrestricted access to fi rearms increases the like- lihood of injuries or deaths, either to those who possess them or to others. “When someone does not handle a fi rearm safely, acci- dental deaths can result,” said John Hummel, Deschutes County district attorney, during a debate sponsored Oct. 21 by the City Club of Portland. Hummel said a per- mit-to-purchase process would not only allow police to intervene if they deem would-be purchasers are dan- gers to themselves or others, it would let them obtain needed mental health treatment. Sui- cide accounted for about 80% of the deaths, homicides for most of the rest. Advocates mention a study by the Center for Gun Violence Prevention and Pol- icy at Johns Hopkins Univer- sity, which concluded that a similar law in Connecticut reduced the fi rearms murder rate by 28%, and the fi rearms suicide rate by 33%. In con- trast, after Missouri in 2007 repealed a law requiring a permit to purchase, the study concluded that its gun homi- cide rate went up by 47%, and its gun suicide rate by 23%. Connecticut tightened its law in 2013 after the Decem- ber 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, where 20 children and six adults died, plus the 20-year-old gunman and his mother. “The evidence from Johns Hopkins says that Measure 114 will save lives,” Hummel said. “It comes down to this: Is the status quo acceptable to you? The loss of 600 Orego- nians every year to gunshots is unacceptable to me.” Miles Rowe Pend- leton, president of the Eugene-Springfi eld branch of the NAACP, said the measure also off ers spinoff benefi ts for families and communities. “While we correctly view gun violence as a health-cen- tered issue … gun violence is also an economic issue,” he said during the debate. What opponents say But Kevin Starrett, exec- utive director of the Oregon Firearms Federation — which bills itself as a no-compro- mise organization on gun rights — disparaged those and other statistics, some compiled by the joint pub- lic health school at Oregon Health & Science University and Portland State University. “All the statistics they are citing are cherry-picked data that are unreliable and unsupportable to begin with,” Starrett said. “These are the statistics dredged up by insti- tutions that already have a bias and reach conclusions that the people who pay for them want to have.” Starrett and other gun rights advocates argue that the measure simply would result in more diffi culties for people to exercise their con- stitutional right to obtain fi re- arms for self-defense, with- out doing much to deter those bent on violent crime. “It was drafted by people who admit they know noth- ing about fi rearms and have irrational fears of them,” he said. “The measure is a fraud promoted by dishonest media and is as misleading as the ballot measure that now has our streets littered with bod- ies of overdose victims.” Paul Donheff ner, a spokes- man for the Oregon Hunters Association, said the mea- sure enables delays and new restrictions by city police, county sheriff s and the Ore- gon State Police without the needed funding or staffi ng. Starrett said none of the bills that the Legislature has passed starting in 2015 has helped stem gun violence. He said he supports stricter laws against gun “predators” and expanded access to men- tal health. “We have seen a massive increase in fi rearms violence concurrently with all the new fi rearms regulations that have been introduced since 2015,” he said. “I would sub- mit that creating gun con- trol is increasing fi rearms violence.” But Hummel said: “He will never support any gun safety regulation whatsoever.” Oregonians favor voting changes Serving Eastern Oregon since 1959! Pharmacy • Hallmark Cards • Gifts • Liquor Store Heppner Condon Boardman (541) 676-9158 (541) 256-1200 (541) 481-9474 www.MurraysDrug.com SALEM — While Ore- gon’s voting rate remains among the highest in the coun- try, most Oregonians aren’t satisfi ed with current election systems, a new poll fi nds. A survey conducted by the Oregon Values and Beliefs Center found that less than one-third of Oregonians think the process for electing the governor and state legislators Our Team of Local, Experienced Mortgage Specialists takes the stress out of Teresa Hughes, Hailey Shultz, Mortgage Loan Officer Kaitlin Orcutt, Desirae Ruth, and Mortgage Loan Officer Raymond Seastone. BUILDING THE HOME OF YOUR DREAMS. Please Call 541-676-9884 or Call Raymond at 541-922-2828 Local in-house draw process for your builder. Local in-house inspections. Borrow money as needed throughout term of the loan. Permanent financing available. TALK TO US ABOUT PURCHASING A HOME OR REMODELING. Member FDIC KAITLIN ORCUTT NMLS #1043345 RAYMOND SEASTONE NMLS # 937744 / #414459 / RATES & TERMS MAY VARY. ALL LOANS SUBJECT TO CREDIT APPROVAL Is the $0 PREMIUM MEDICARE ADVANTAGE PLAN right for you? CALL NOW FOR YOUR FREE PERSONALIZED APPOINTMENT!!!! DONNA STEELE 541-575-3518 should stay the same. One- third of Oregonians think vot- ers should be able to rank their top three candidates, while 24% think there should be runoff elections if no candi- date receives more than 50% of the vote. Alternative voting sys- tems are increasingly on the minds of voters as the Novem- ber election approaches. With Betsy Johnson running as an unaffi liated candidate for gov- ernor — with more funding and support than minor party or unaffi liated candidates in recent history — vote-splitting is a concern for some voters. Voters in Portland and Multnomah County will also weigh in on ballot measures that would implement ranked- choice voting for county and city offi cials in future elections. Statewide, just 36% of Oregonians are satisfi ed with the political party they’re reg- istered with. “I just wish that there was something better because it just doesn’t even seem eff ective anymore,” Leanne Spivey, a Marion County resi- dent in her 50s, said of the cur- rent election system. “I don’t even feel like the average per- son, the average citizen or per- son that lives anywhere, their voice really matters,” Spivey said. “It almost makes me not UNITED METHODIST CHURCH ANNUAL CHRISTMAS SALE November 10th - 11th 9 am - 3 pm November 12th 9 am - Noon 1/2 Price Day want to vote — but I do vote.” For many, ranked-choice voting or other voting systems seem confusing. Spivey said she was consid- ering voting for either Chris- tine Drazan or Betsy Johnson but was worried about split- ting the vote by casting her ballot for Johnson. “If (ranked-choice voting) could help somebody make that decision, and not feel like their vote is wasted, it would probably be helpful, but I don’t know how these things are tallied and messed around with,” Spivey said. Benton County adopted ranked-choice voting for county commissioner races when there are more than three candidates. In Benton County, county commissioner is a partisan position, so ranked choice voting is only used if three or more parties nomi- nate diff erent candidates. The system was fi rst used in 2020, but the winning candidates for both positions received more than half the votes in the fi rst round, so the additional rank- ings weren’t necessary. Under ranked choice vot- ing, voters rank candidates on their ballots. When elec- tions offi cials receive bal- lots, they fi rst total all the top-ranked candidates. If no candidate receives more than half of the votes, the candi- date who received the few- est votes is eliminated. The votes that went to that candi- date are then distributed to the second-choice candidates. If there is still no candidate with more than half of the votes, the process repeats. “Ranked choice voting could end strategic voting and better refl ect the will of the people,” Seth Hill, a Mult- nomah County man, wrote. “Right now I feel that as a Democrat, the only choice I have when voting is to stick with whoever the party selected, regardless of what I think of them. “ Forty-three percent of Ore- gonians said they would sup- port an election system that used ranked-choice voting and multi-member districts. Though that isn’t a major- ity, only 28% of Oregonians said they opposed that system; 29% said they didn’t know. Some respondents voiced concerns about the cost of multi-member districts, driven up by more elected offi cials’ salaries, and the diffi culty of getting things done with too many cooks in the kitchen. Statewide, 37% of Orego- nians said the Democratic and Republican parties have too much say in selecting candi- dates to compete in the general election, while 27% said the parties have the right amount of say and 8% said they have too little say. State primaries are han- dled in a range of ways across the country, but Oregon is one of just nine states with closed primaries, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Only vot- ers registered as Democrats or Republicans can vote in that party’s primary election. Monday - Thursday 7am- 6pm Monday - Thursday 7am- 6pm Friday 8am - 5pm Friday Sharpe 8am - 5pm Mendy FNP Mendy Sharpe FNP Apppointments available S283676-1 139101 By ANNA DEL SAVIO Oregon Capital Bureau