We are currently 5 days into the short session of the 2024 Oregon legislature. Gun owners have been anxiously waiting for our fate during the recess in the legislature. We have been battered over the past year and a half because of bad legislation that was passed on the ballot. Measure 114 was set to go into effect in December of 22. Fortunately for us lawsuits prevented it from going into effect and dramatically changing our state and not in a good way. I have written previous blog posts about this infringement. So we were all wondering what we faced as the legislature started back up. As the beginning approached, I began to look for upcoming anticivil liberty bills coming out of the “marble nut house.” It is a name that I jokingly gave to the State Capitol building. It is where people, who pretend to serve the people go, but in all reality, they serve their own agendas and special interests. In all of the time that I have spent up there, the one thing that I have noticed is that if you want to get something done. You need to have a lobbyist.
As I dug into the pending legislation, I only noticed a few anti-gun bills. From what I read, all were benign. This was really good news. This gave us a break and allowed us to take a quick breather. The only one that has any sort of traction in SB 1503. This bill will create a “task force” to study the effects of “gun violence,” which is a made-up term. There is no such thing as gun violence. This term is used to invoke an emotional response and is misleading to the general public. There will also be a focus on suicide prevention as well. In my opinion these are are two separate issues and should be addressed as such. This just tells me there is an agenda with this task force and there will be no good that will come from this waste of the state resources. This is merely a way to take the pressure off of the legislature by punting the responsibility of legislating to an appointed group of partisan hacks.
In the short session, there are only 35 days or so. This means the action happens fast and you have to pay attention very closely. SB 1503 was already scheduled for a public hearing 3 days into the session. This should tell you all that you need to know about the agenda that the powers that be are pushing. The deadline for this bill to move forward in the process is Monday, 2/12, and as of yesterday 2/8. SB 1503 was scheduled for a work session on 2/13. This piece of legislation is now turbocharged and there is nothing that we can do to stop it. What this bill does is that it creates a panel of people who will make suggestions to the Oregon legislature on the very complex issue around guns in this state. There will be 4 representatives hand-picked from the legislature and then there will be 13 members handpicked to complete the rest of the task force. While this is supposed bi-partisan group, the cynic in me tells me that it will be nothing but a group of shills bent on disarming our state. I can say that quite comfortably, it may not be next week, but their end goal is NO GUNS in our state. It could take 20 years or more, but mark my words that is their end goal!
The picture that I would like to paint for you is how the impact of the “task force” will affect many different levels of Oregon politics. I want to preface this by saying that I am not a Republican nor am I a Democratic. I have conservative leanings, but I am independent-minded. I am a free thinker who analyzes the data to inform my decisions. That being said and I don’t want to be too political, I am just trying to paint a picture. We have to look at the history of our state. There has been a complete Democrat control of all of Oregon politics for 30-40 years. This one-party rule hasn’t produced a single quality piece of legislation that improved any part of our lives. I don’t feel that this is an inaccurate statement. Part of the problem is weak Republicans that don’t stand up to protect Oregonians, it is not all of them, but some are no better than the other side. In truth, being in the minority. There is little that they can do.
The current Democratic leadership is dependent on the many anti-gun groups to control the 100% stranglehold on our state. They have a very symbiotic relationship. Here is how it works. The anti-gun groups are well organized, they are well funded, and they believe that their cause is righteous. As narrow-minded as it is, it is what it is. Next, these groups work very closely with the legislature. It is quite common for anti-gun groups to recruit, campaign, and fundraise to help elect these very candidates. It is gross because it doesn’t attract quality public servants, only servants of special interests that continue to further erode our civil liberties. None of these policies will help save lives, period! FULL STOP! They aren’t designed to. They are NOT designed to. They are designed to further disarm law-abiding citizens, don’t be fooled. This is a national trend and the Oregon groups are following the orders and infrastructure from the bigger, National organizations. The current Democratic legislature is fully dependent on these groups. They utilize their networks, infrastructure, and volunteers to ensure their complete control of our state. Arguably, our state is on fire and it’s like watching the fire department show up to put out the flames, only to have no water to the fire hydrants. It’s very sad to see good people flee our state for more promised lands. This is why this fight is so important to me. I’m just stubborn enough to dig in my heels and fight!
SB 1503 creates this task force and has funding of up to $400,000 to go towards the research needed to figure out what most gun people already know. The policies in place don’t work and will never work. That’s the point, once these policies don’t work, they will just create more. Our rights will continue to evaporate. The way this process will work in regards to this task force. The legislature will ram SB 1503 through the Senate, it will go on to the House of Representatives. It will be fast-tracked there and rammed through the process. Once it passes out of this chamber, it will go on to the Governor for her signature. It will then become law 91 days after the end of this short session. Once law, the task force will start recommending tired, tried policies that are being tried currently all over the country. That will NEVER work because that is the point, remember total civilian disarmament. It is their goal!
Now this is where the funding comes into play. That funding is destined to pay for “research.” I use this term very loosely. If you are paying attention to the gun control movement, Everytown, Moms Demand Action, and Gun Violence Archive are collaborating to invent their very own data. This is very bad and dangerous because they always omit bits and pieces of data to make up their own. Then this data is cited by the complicit media and politicians. There is a saying that when a lie is repeated enough, it becomes the truth. That is what is happening in real time, currently. That $400,000 is going to go to those anti-gun groups to create bogus studies and to pay for the data that they invent. Once in their coffers, it gets passed back to the politicians who helped ram this ineffective, garbage bill into place. This will help keep them in power. This will help further entrench and protect the corruption. This bill isn’t about public safety. If it was, it would focus on abolishing gun-free zones and prosecuting actual gun crimes. They do NOT want to admit that guns in public do more to stop violence than any new magical law. I will keep you all updated on the progress of SB 1503. I’m not optimistic about it becoming law because of how the elected Democrat politicians will benefit from the funding. It’s a vicious cycle, people will continue to die. That is the most unfortunate thing. Until next time. Be SAFE!