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Hello Friends,
Monday marked a contentious day
in the Capitol. The House voted on SB 941, the bill that requires universal background checks for
firearms transfers in the state of Oregon.
Currently, eight jurisdictions in the United States require a background
check to be conducted prior to any firearms transfer, including those between
private citizens and at gun shows.
Washington State is one, having just passed Initiative 594 in
December. Some of these states have
additional requirements such as waiting periods, assault weapons bans and
magazine capacity restrictions.
Oregon's SB 941 requires all private
transferors of firearms to appear in person before a gun dealer so that the a criminal background check can be conducted prior to
the transfer. Violation of this
requirement would constitute a Class A misdemeanor for the first offense and a
Class B felony for the second and subsequent offenses. The bill was modified to include exceptions
for family members, law enforcement, inherited firearms and certain temporary
transfers. It also allows the court to
prohibit a person who is participating in outpatient mental health treatment
during the period of treatment to obtain a firearm.
The bill has excited many in my
district, and we have had hundreds of calls and easily as many emails. The calls have been just about evenly split
as to how folks would like me to vote. I
want to be clear that I believe that background checks are important in terms
of keeping guns away from criminals.
There are many cases where sales have been prevented by a completed
background check, and I have personally witnessed someone being hauled off in
handcuffs when the purchaser failed to pass the background check.
After much thought and due
diligence, however, I ended up voting against SB 941 and the undemocratic
process that surrounded its passage. The Expanded Background Check Bill, as SB 941 was known, had a number of flaws that
could easily have been fixed with some relatively simple amendments. Significantly, some of the proposed amendments would have not only improved SB 941, they would have also been responsive to the public's testimony on the bill.
But this was never to be the case given the proponents' refusal to accept amendments to the bill. I personally wrote each Rules Committee Member requesting that the bill be amended with the following three exemptions:
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Exempt those who had already been approved for
a concealed handgun license (CHL)
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Exempt those who hold licenses from the
federal Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and firearms to buy and sell
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Exempt those who participate in the Civilian
Marksmanship Program, a program created and approve by Congress
None of these amendments, proposed on behalf of a concerned public was even considered. For me, the process that surrounded SB 941 marked a low point in my decade-long legislative experience.
Yours Truly,
Representative Brad Witt
House District 31
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Last Thursday was Homeschool day at the capitol. It was great to have folks from the district sharing their experience as home educators. The Brown family from Deer Island made the 2 hour drive to the capitol to share their ideas and concerns. |
Home school day also brings apple pie! These nice young ladies from Keizer were busy delivering pies to House Members. Thank you! |
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District Connect Afternoon
Friday May 15
4-6pm
Klondike Restaurant
71 Cowlitz St, St Helens, OR 97051
Join me for updates from the Legislative Session, share your ideas, concerns and maybe a beer out on the patio (weather permitting)
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email: Rep.BradWitt@state.or.us I phone: 503-986-1431
address: 900 Court St NE, H-374, Salem, OR, 97301
website: http://www.oregonlegislature.gov/witt
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