SALEM — Gov. Kate Brown called for new, stricter gun control measures Tuesday during a press conference with Democratic legislators, Multnomah County Sheriff Mike Reese and family members of murder victims.
“Violence answers nothing, offers nothing, solves nothing,” Brown said. “Instead of reaching for weapons, we must reach for answers. … As your governor, I call on each of us as Oregonians and as Americans to end gun violence now.”
She urged lawmakers to pass Senate Bill 797, which would prevent firearm sales without a completed background check.
Current state law requires gun buyers to submit to a background check, but the sale can go through if it takes longer than three days to complete the background check. Lawmakers and advocates have referred to the situation as the Charleston Loophole because Dylann Roof, who in 2015 killed nine black worshipers at a church in Charleston, South Carolina, obtained his gun after a flawed background check.
“More needs to be done to strengthen our current laws,” Reese said, calling Senate Bill 797 “an important measure that will protect women and children.”
No lawmaker has attached their name to the bill as a co-sponsor, and it has not been scheduled for a hearing. A similar bill narrowly passed the state House 31-28 last year, but died in the Senate without a vote.
House Majority Leader Jennifer Williamson, D-Portland, said Tuesday that she doesn’t know why last year’s bill stalled in the Senate, but said she hopes senators will pass what gun control measures make it through the House this year.
Senate Majority Leader Ginny Burdick, D-Portland, a supporter of Senate Bill 797, said last year’s attempt at closing the Charleston Loophole was killed in the Senate because the bill had been watered down through amendments. That bill would have kept the loophole open, she said.
Senate President Peter Courtney, D-Salem, declined to say if he supports this year’s legislation.
“We have a committee process and we’ll see where that takes us,” Courtney said. “If we’re going to do something, I’d like to see us be able to it together.”
The governor also asked legislators to consider other bills that would prevent those convicted of stalking or other domestic abusers from purchasing firearms. Many gun violence victims are women shot by ex-spouses, Brown said.
“The presence of a gun in a domestic violence situation makes it five times more likely that a woman will get killed,” she said.
Though recent attempts at gun control have fallen flat in the Senate, one prominent senator has stepped up to shepherd this year’s bills: Sen. Floyd Prozanski, D-Eugene, whose sister was murdered more than 40 years ago.
“We need to take prudent steps that are reasonable, sensible,” he said.
Supporting gun control legislation can come with a political price — one that Prozanski knows first-hand. After backing tighter background checks for gun purchases in 2015, Prozanski faced an attempted recall, which failed to make the ballot. Williamson, who leads House Democrats, said she’s not worried about a recall effort or gun lobbyists.
“The National Rifle Association has not been active, at least with our office, on this,” Williamson said.
Williamson and other Democrats who have supported gun control legislation are not without their own backers.
Tuesday’s press conference was put on by Moms Demand Action, a subsidiary of Michael Bloomberg-funded Everytown for Gun Safety. Bloomberg, a billionaire and former New York City mayor, and Everytown are big donors in Oregon: Brown accepted a $250,000 donation from Bloomberg last year and Everytown gave $15,000 to Williamson.
— Gordon R. Friedman
gfriedman@oregonian.com; 503-221-8209
@GordonRFriedman
Our editors found this article on this site using Google and regenerated it for our readers.
