| The Legislature adjourned sine die last week without passing any NRA-opposed measures. One pro-Second Amendment bill which NRA supported, Senate Bill 603 by State Senator Brian Boquist, did pass and has been signed into law by Governor Ted Kulongoski. The bill clarifies the term "accessible" as it applies to a motor vehicle operator in possession of a handgun, by stating that a handgun may legally be transported if it is kept in a locked container with the key removed from the lock in a vehicle that does not have a trunk (this includes lockable glove compartments and center consoles.) The bill has no effect on long gun transportation, the possession of a handgun in a vehicle by a CHL, or handguns transported openly.
Several other measures -- including CHL confidentiality (House Bill 2727) and Concealed Handgun Licenses reciprocity (House Bill 2463) legislation - started out promising and with broad, bipartisan support, but ended up being amended by anti-gun members of the House Judiciary Committee to the point where NRA and key legislative backers of the bills could no longer support them. Those measures both ultimately failed to pass.
Lastly, NRA-ILA worked tirelessly throughout the session to amend House Bill 2853, the Oregon State Police-backed mental health records bill. The intent of the legislation was to bring Oregon into compliance with provisions of the NICS Improvement Act by requiring the reporting of records on individuals who are prohibited from possessing firearms due to mental defect to both Oregon State Police and the feds. At every step of the process, NRA worked to prevent the expansion of record-sharing beyond existing federal prohibited firearms possession categories, and insisted on amendments to protect individual privacy, limit direct access to mental health records by law enforcement and ensure an adequate and fair appeals process. A heavily-amended version of the measure passed, but has not yet been signed into law.
Thank you to those members who voiced their opinions during this session and please continue to check you email and www.nraila.org for updates. |
