SALEM, Ore. (AP) - Oregon House legislators held a rare marathon public hearing Wednesday on a bill expanding background checks to encompass nearly all private gun transfers. The proposal that has sped through the Legislature in the wake of an election that helped Democrats up their majorities in both chambers.
Gun control supporters have unsuccessfully pushed legislators for years to expand background checks to nearly all gun sales and transfers, but similar bills have narrowly failed twice before. Last year’s election, partly funded by a gun-control group that poured money into key legislative races, helped Democrats gain two seats in the Senate, a key battleground.
The House Committee on Rules heard several hours of testimony on a bill requiring all gun sales to take place in front of a licensed gun dealer, exempting exchanges between family members, including domestic partners. The dealer would, for a fee, have to conduct a background check before a gun transfer could be completed.
Aside from expanding the background-check system, the proposal also allows courts to determine whether or not a person ordered into outpatient mental health treatment should have possession of a firearm during treatment.
The bill has already made it through the Senate, where lawmakers passed it 17-13 on a mostly party-line vote. Democrat Sen. Betsy Johnson of Scappoose crossed party lines over to vote against it.
The House committee is scheduled to vote on the measure Thursday.
Opponents argued the measures infringes on their 2nd Amendment rights while disproportionately burdening law-abiding citizens. Supporters say the legislation would make it harder for felons and others prohibited from having a gun to get their hands on one.
Kevin Starrett, executive director of the Oregon Firearms Federation, said the background check system doesn’t work and most of the people refused firearms are denied them in error.
“No matter what the public is told about how many criminals are prevented from getting guns because of background checks, the most cursory examination of Oregon State Police data proves beyond any doubt that this is simply not true,” Starrett said.
Several sheriffs across the state, including from Clatsop, Grant and Jackson counties, have also come out in opposition to the measure, with some saying they won’t enforce the measure if it passes.
Among the bill’s proponents were family members of victims killed during the Clackamas mall shooting in 2012 who said the bill closes a loophole that allows people to purchase firearms online without having to go through a background check.
“While no single law or change is going to prevent all acts of gun violence, there are proven common-sense solutions to protect our families and to make our communities safer. Frankly it’s absurd that we’re even debating this,” said Jenna Yuille, whose mother, Cindy, was killed during the mall shooting.
Oregon law already surpasses federal law after voters passed an initiative in 2000 requiring background checks at gun shows. Proponents of the measure argue felons are able to find and buy guns online from unlicensed dealers.
If it passes, The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence says Oregon would be the eighth state to require background checks on private gun sales and the fifth since the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.
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SB 941
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