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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (June 13, 2018)
A6 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM WEDNESDAY, JUNE 13, 2018 NEWS Second Amendment advocates launch initiative petition By JADE MCDOWELL STAFF WRITER The Second Amend- ment Preservation Ordi- nance movement has come to Umatilla County. Gun rights advocates are collecting signatures to get an initiative on the Novem- ber ballot that would restrict Umatilla County from using any resources to enforce state or federal laws that will “infringe on the right of the People to keep and bear arms.” The initiative desig- nates the county sheriff as the authority to decide which state or federal laws meet the definition of unconstitu- tionally infringing on those rights. Umatilla County’s chief petitioners are Jesse Bon- ifer of Athena and Kevin Pettey of Hermiston, but Bonifer said similar efforts to pass an ordinance with matching language are tak- ing place in counties around the state. Four — Wallowa, Coos, Curry and Wheeler counties — already have passed a Second Amend- ment Preservation Ordi- nance through their county board of commissioners or, in Coos County’s case, via ballot initiative. “This is a firewall for anyone coming into Uma- tilla County to take our guns,” Bonifer said. The ballot initiative — gathering signatures under the official title “Umatilla County Second Amendment Preservation Ordinance” — is a response to statewide initiatives that would restrict firearm ownership, Bonifer said. He referenced current efforts to gather signatures for IP 43, which aims to ban certain guns defined by the measure as “assault weap- CHRISTOPHER OERTELL/PAMPLIN MEDIA GROUP A group will try to collect enough signatures to get a Second Amendment Preservation Ordinance on the ballot in Umatilla County, which would direct county government to not spend county resources enforcing any gun ownership laws the county sheriff deems unconstitutional. HH FILE PHOTO “TRUMP” and “MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN” are engraved on a gun grip at the Crosshair Customs booth on March 10, 2018 at the Pendleton Gun Show at the Pendleton Convention Center. A group will try to collect enough signatures to get a Second Amendment Preservation Ordinance on the ballot in Umatilla County, which would direct county government to not spend county resources enforcing any gun ownership laws the county sheriff deems unconstitutional. ons” and magazines holding more than 10 rounds, and said people in rural Oregon were tired of people in Port- land or Salem trying to take away their constitutional rights. “We should be able to pack anything, any time or own any type of weapon,” he said. The language of the ordi- nance cites several parts of the U.S. Constitution, including the well-known Second Amendment and the Ninth Amendment, which states that certain rights in the Constitution should not be used to deny other rights not specifically listed. It then states that the “Uma- tilla County Government shall not authorize or appro- priate governmental funds, resources, employees, agen- cies, contractors, buildings, detention centers or offices for the purpose of enforcing any element of such acts, laws, orders, mandates, rules or regulations that infringe on the right of the People to keep and bear arms” and that it is the duty of the Umatilla County Sheriff to determine whether any laws relating to firearms, ammunition or accessories were enforce- able in their jurisdiction. The Umatilla County ini- tiative is matched by identi- cal initiatives for other coun- ties, in part of a movement coordinated by Rob Tay- lor of Coos County. Since the gun rights/gun control battle has reached a fever pitch in recent months, Tay- lor said he has gotten a flood of calls from people in many counties asking for help in passing their own Second Amendment Preservation Ordinance. He said so far this year people in 18 coun- ties have submitted paper- work to their county elec- tions office and have been cleared to start gathering signatures in 12, includ- ing Umatilla County, with legal help from the Commit- tee to Preserve the Second Amendment, of which Tay- lor is chair. “I didn’t realize how far it would go,” he said. Opponents of such initia- tives question the legality of a county ordinance to super- sede state and federal law, but Taylor said it doesn’t overrule that law so much as defunds it and de-prioritizes Bounds headed for Senate confirmation vote Bounds has since denounced those writings, calling them tone-deaf “col- Hermiston native Ryan lege kid” opinions that “do Bounds is headed to the not reflect the views I have Senate floor for con- hewn to as a law- yer and, frankly, as a firmation after the grown-up.” Senate Judiciary But after the Committee voted 11 op-eds came to to 10 on Thursday light Senators Ron to forward his nom- ination for the 9th Wyden and Jeff U.S. Circuit Court Merkley declined to Bounds of Appeals. issue a “blue slip” Bounds’ judicial of support, which is nomination was thrust into customarily given by a nom- the spotlight after liberal inee’s home state senators activists Alliance for Jus- before the Senate Judiciary tice publicized four op-eds Committee moves forward. Bounds wrote for the Stan- Democrats have criticized ford Review during col- the committee for going lege, which spoke mock- ahead with the nomination ingly of ethnically based process without the blue student clubs and “sensitiv- slips, and last month Wyden ity” and criticized universi- on the Senate floor called ties for using a lower stan- ignoring the advice and con- dard of proof than “beyond a sent of home state senators a reasonable doubt” when tak- “dangerous mistake.” ing action against students “What is clear to me is accused of sexual assault. that the majority is now By JADE MCDOWELL STAFF WRITER chipping away at a century of bipartisan tradition that has protected the interests of those in our home state and served as a check on the power of the executive,” he said. Committee Chair Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, addressed those concerns at Thurs- day morning’s vote, accord- ing to the video recording of the proceedings, stating that it was his policy that negative or unreturned blue slips should not necessarily block a nominee from hav- ing a hearing, and pointing out that a screening com- mittee convened by Wyden and Merkley had recom- mended Bounds as a nom- inee in the first place. He said that during the hear- ing Bounds had been able to answer questions about his college writings and “clarify the confusion” about why he had not previously disclosed them (Bounds testified that staff from Wyden’s office had only asked for materials going back to law school). “We shouldn’t assume that views expressed years ago during college and law school represent the nomi- nee today, especially when the nominees tell us that they don’t. Let’s let all 100 senators — not just two — decide whether Mr. Bounds deserves to be confirmed,” he said. Bounds graduated from Hermiston High School, then received an undergrad- uate degree from Stanford in 1995 and his law degree from Yale. He has practiced commercial law in Portland, was a federal prosecutor for the District of Columbia and is currently an assistant U.S. attorney in Oregon. If the Senate approves his nomination he will have a lifetime appointment as a judge on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. MEDICAL DIRECTORY PEDIATRIC DENTISTRY Call Today! 541-289-5433 1060 W. Elm, Suite #115, Hermiston, OR (across from Good Shepherd Medical Center) www.apd4kidz.com Office Hours: Mon-Fri 8am-4pm MENTAL HEALTH LET US BE THE ONE THAT HELPS! • Adult, Child and Family Therapy • Psychiatric Evaluation and Treatment • Mental Health and Crisis Services • Confidential and Professional Care LIFEWAYS PENDLETON Crisis Phone: LIFEWAYS HERMISTON 331 SE 2nd St., 595 NW 11th St., 866-343-4473 Pendleton, OR 97801 Hermiston, OR 97838 Office: 541-276-6207 WWW . LIFEWAYS . ORG Office: 541-567-2536 VISION CARE URGENT AND FAMILY CARE Eye Health & Vision Care Robert D. Rolen , O.D., LLC HERMISTON FAMILY MEDICINE & Optometric Physician 115 W. Hermiston Ave. Suite 130 541-567-1837 FAMILY DENTISTRY Family Dentistry ~ N ew Patients Welcome~ 541-567-8161 995 W. Orchard Ave., Hermiston Ryan M. Wieseler, D.D.S . URGENT CARE Sports & Dot Physicals • Minor Injuries • Family Care • Minor Surgeries We accept Medicare & some Advantage Medicare plans NO APPOINTMENT NECESSARY HOURS: Mon.-Sat. 7:30am-7:00pm 541-567-1137 236 E. Newport, Hermiston (across from U.S. Bank) To advertise in the Medical Directory, please call: Jeanne at 541-564-4531 or Audra at 541-564-4538 enforcement. Sheriffs make decisions all the time about what to prioritize, he said. “This really isn’t giv- ing them any authority, it’s just using the discretion- ary authority they already have,” he said. In fact, Taylor said lan- guage in the initiative mir- rors language in Oregon’s “sanctuary state” law direct- ing that state and local law enforcement resources and personnel should not be used to enforce federal immigra- tion laws. “They’re already doing it,” he said. “Why not do it for guns, if they can do it for illegal immigrants?” He also pointed to legal- ization of marijuana, which law enforcement is not arresting people for use of despite it still being illegal on a federal level. In Umatilla County, Bon- ifer said people are collect- ing signatures at various local gun shops, including Garner’s Sporting Goods and Blagg Rifles in Pendle- ton and Columbia Outdoors and Smitty’s Outpost in Hermiston, and at Advanced Tarps and Covers in Athena. He said they need 1,200 reg- istered Umatilla County vot- ers’ signatures and have to turn them in by Aug. 6 to get them on the November ballot. “The people of Oregon are finally standing up and speaking,” he said. WORSHIP COMMUNITY the best thing about Sundays 1520 W ORCHARD AVE Sunday Worship Service 10:30 am Classes for Kids @ 9:15 am SEEKING JESUS, SHARING LIFE, SERVING PEOPLE www.hermistonnazarene.org First Christian Church “Proclaiming the Message of Hope, Living the Gospel of Love” Worship Gathering 10:00 am Children’s Church 10:00 am 567-3013 775 W. Highland Ave., Hermiston NEW BEGINNINGS CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP Worship Service 10:30 AM Sunday School 9:00 AM Pastor J.C. Barnett Children’s Church & Nursery Available 700 West Orchard Avenue P.O. Box 933 Hermiston, Oregon 541-567-8441 Seventh-day Adventist Church Saturdays Sabbath School........9:30 a.m. Worship Service......11:00 a.m. English & Spanish Services 567-8241 855 W. Highland • Hermiston Grace Baptist Church 555 SW 11th, Hermiston 567-9497 Nursery provided for all services Sunday School - 9:30 AM Worship - 10:45 AM 6:00 PM Wed Prayer & Worship - 7:00 PM “Proclaiming God’s word, growing in God’s grace” The Full Gospel Home Church 235 SW 3rd Phone 567-7678 Rev. Ed Baker - Rev. Nina Baker Sunday: Sunday School........10:00 am Worship...................11:00 am Evening Service........7:00 pm Wednesday Service..7:00 pm “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.” 1 Pet. 5:7 First United Methodist Church Hermiston 191 E. Gladys Ave , Hermiston OR Sunday Worship 11am • 541-567-3002 Nursery available Check us out on Face Book Worship Livestream at herfumc.com Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open Doors Rev. Dr. Jim Pierce, pastor LANDMARK BAPTIST CHURCH 125 E. Beech Ave. • 567-3232 Pastor David Dever Sun. Bible Classes...................10:00am Sun. Worship Service..............11:00am Sun. Evening Worship..............6:00pm Wed. Prayer & Bible Study......6:00pm www.hermistonlmbc.com St. Johns Episcopal Church Join Us On Our Journey With Jesus. Scripture, Tradition and Reason Family service 9am Sunday N.E. Gladys Ave & 7th, Hermiston t. PH: 567-6672 We are an all inclusive Church who welcomes all. Our Lady of Angels Catholic Church 565 W. HERMISTON AVE. DAILY MASS: Monday-Friday ...............................English 7:00 am Thursday...............Spanish 6:00 pm SATURDAY:.........English 5:00 pm ...............................Spanish 7:00 pm SUNDAY:..............English 9:00 am ..........................Bilingual 11:00 am ..............................Spanish 1:00 pm Offi ce..............................567-5812 To share your worship times call 541-278-2678
