SALEM, Ore. — A proposed gun storage law that would be among the toughest in the U.S. is headed for a vote in the Oregon Legislature, with backers saying it will save lives and opponents contending it could lead to deaths.
Meanwhile, in Colorado, a less sweeping gun storage bill was signed into law Monday by Gov. Jared Polis., who said: “It’s a sensible measure to help avoid immeasurable heartbreak.”
Colorado’s new law creates the offence of unlawful storage of a firearm if a person stores a gun knowing that a juvenile could access it without permission or if a resident of the premises is ineligible to possess a firearm.
Oregon’s bill generated testimony from hundreds of people, mostly in writing because there wasn’t enough time to take all the oral testimony.
A vote in Oregon’s House of Representatives on the bill, initially scheduled for Monday, was pushed back by a week to enable Democratic representatives to work with the Senate “to guarantee the bill is on track to pass and be enacted,” said Hannah Kurowski, spokeswoman for the majority House Democrats.
Among those testifying was Paul Kemp, whose brother-in-law Steve Forsyth was killed with a stolen gun in a mass shooting at a Portland-area shopping mall in 2012.
“I will never forget the screams I heard when we had to tell my teenage nephew that his father had been killed at the mall,” Kemp said.
But opponents say forcing people to keep guns locked up could waste precious moments if they need to defend themselves against armed intruders.
Jim Mischel, of Sheridan, Oregon, described how his wife woke up when he was away one night in 1981. She heard a noise, went to investigate and saw that a man had broken into their home.
She returned to the bedroom and tried to get to a pistol that was in a locked gun box in the nightstand.
“She was unable to get the box unlocked and the pistol out before he got into the bedroom and threatened her with his gun,” Mischel said. “She has never recovered.”
The debate in Oregon over guns mirrors similar discussions being held nationwide, with little movement on gun control even as the number of mass shootings climbs again as the nation eases coronavirus lockdown restrictions.
Massachusetts is the only state that requires that all unattended firearms be stored with locking devices in place, according to the Giffords gun safety advocacy group. Penalties for violations can range from imprisonment to thousands of dollars in fines.
States that have passed laws requiring some level of firearms safe storage include California, Connecticut and New York, said Allison Anderman, senior counsel at Giffords.
Similar bills this session have failed in Illinois, Kentucky, Montana, New Mexico and Virginia, Anderman said.
Oregon’s bill mandates that gun owners secure unattended weapons with trigger locks or in locked compartments. Those who don’t would be strictly liable for any injuries or property damage. If a minor gets ahold of an unsecured firearm, the gun’s owner would face a maximum $2,000 fine.
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Associated Press writer James Anderson in Denver contributed to this report.
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Follow Andrew Selsky on Twitter at https://twitter.com/andrewselsky
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I would have no problem having a gun locked up if I had kids in the house. However, I would not allow any government authority to make me lock up a gun, if I lived alone or with my wife. Secondly, if a gun had to be locked up, I would want a key to be around my neck at all times, so I could get to the gun in an instant. I would also want a light on the lock box at night, so I could immediately know where to put the key, to unlock the box immediately, if I needed the gun.
Is it a requirement to pass an idiot test to get elected? Or are they subjected to brain removal after election?
IT DAMN well should be a requirement to get an IQ test, not just to run for office, but to VOTE!
Packer..
Over the past few years, i’ve marveled at the outright stupidity of the left, in these gun safe laws.. There was the story from NY, where one woman, who cause of their laws in NY where you have to store ammo in one safe, the gun in another, Responded at 1am to a home invasion.. BARELY HAD time to get to the safe where the ammo was, before the perps broke into her room, and held her at knife point.. SHE GOT raped, cause she was unable to defend herself, ALL CAUSE SHE had to store the gun she got (FOR home protection) was elsewhere…..
THIS IS why i am always against stupid laws like this… THE WHOLE point in having a gun at home for defense, is SO YOU CAN GET TO IT in a timely manner, to defend yourself.
If you are having to fiddle around with a safe, or worse TWO, to get the gun (and then the ammo), in many situations, you may already BE injured or nabbed by the criminals, before you can GET your weapon, then the ammo…
where exactly is the reichstaad at in oregon?
I believe it is in Salem, named after the witch trials.
Most people committing gun crimes are not those who are keeping them in a hidden locke box in their homes. This solution has nothing to incident initiationg the legislation. Mass shooter to crowd, “Let me go him and get my gun locked in a secure box in a closet because I’ve decided to shoot you!” Would that really happen in Colorado or Oregon?
Most of the accidental shootings, happen cause the kids are not properly TRAINED ON gun safety.
I would rather be judged by 12 than carried by 6. These kinds of laws are just more liberal BS. My guns are always safely stored but readily available. No demented anti-gun bureaucrat is going to deny might right to protect and defend myself and my loved ones.
WHY STAY living in an anti-gun state! MOVE.
“Oregon Gun Storage Law Would Be Among The Toughest In The US”
83% of the firearm deaths in Oregon are from suicide.
13% are from homicide.
2% are from legal intervention.
1% are unintentional.
1% are undetermined.
It would appear that if 83% of the firearm deaths are from suicide.
Then the people in Oregon must not be very happy and locking up guns isn’t going to affect suicide rates.
So what really is the purpose of:
“Oregon Gun Storage Law Would Be Among The Toughest In The US”??
If the Democrat Party gun laws worked, then Chicago with the most and toughest gun laws in the country, would be the safest place to live in the U.S..
According to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office, 875 people died from gun violence last year; 78% of the victims were Black.
Maybe criminals don’t follow or care about their laws.
AND if someone wants to kill themselves, THEY WILL ALWAYS FIND A way!
HISTORY has proven that.
They want to make sure the police have the opportunity to “police” the area and pick up the pieces (Policing means; to gather up trash and debris). They would rather have you dead than the felonious perp dead. If you are dead they get to make jobs for all the criminal justice workers. If the perp is dead, they do not get to do anything but paperwork. If they can make killing a perp illegal, the criminal justice system gets more jobs.
How do you stop a kid, or at least slow them down and make them think….take away the mystery of firearms. TEACH them about them, let them handle them. Now obviously if they have friends over all bets are off but….for the most part once kids know how to handle firearms and know that all they have to do is ask to go shooting then I feel some of the problem is solved. Yes my firearms are locked up, as is the ammo, but mainly because I don’t want some punk stealing them. Except for the one that I keep close at hand, just in case.
Please, Mr. home invader, can you hang on a few while I retrieve my gun from the locked safe and my ammo from the other locked safe? NOT
I wonder, how would they enforce this?? GET a list of homes of gun owners, and just COME IN When ever they want to inspect?
So does this mean Oregonians will be subject to surprise, unconstitutional searches of their homes? They (the “authorities”) have the records of all registered gun owners already.
I wouldn’t be shocked if it does.
Message to the citizens of Nazi Oregon; The Constitutional Republic state of Idaho is right net door. Yes I live in the socialist republic of washington, but I am looking and may move soon to one of the Constitutional Republic states.
Sorry, but i doubt the good folk in Iowa, WANT libtards fleeing to their state, and infecting it just like they ruined oregon/washington..
I wonder if that little street rat that was out prowling at 2:30 am in Chicago with a gun would be prone to obey the Oregon gun rules . ..
Ive still yet to see anyone in media ASK “Why the hell did the parent(s) let this kid out, SINCE HE WAS MENTALLY Underdeveloped, at 2,30 am!”