Gun Violence Act Archives - Patriot Firearms of Oregon

Sign from Lift Every Voice Oregon rally 2022.

Ballot Measure 114 formerly (Initiative Petition 17 or IP17) also titled “Reduction of Gun Violence Act” will hit the ballots for Oregonians this November, and it will be one for the records in Oregon! Oregonians will be facing numerous election options for: a New Governor and the Nations only state for the strictest gun control measure (I.P. 17) to be voted on this fall of 2022. Well let’s dissect what we are about to talk about!

What is an “initiative or initiative process” in Oregon? “The initiative process gives direct legislative power to the voters to enact new laws, change existing laws, or amend the Oregon Constitution. Any person may be a chief petitioner of an initiative petition”. So, for an initiative to go onto a ballot to be voted on, the threshold of validated persons must meet above 100k signatures in 30 days.

Last month an anti-gun left leaning group, by the name of “Lift Every Voice Oregon” recruited paid workers and volunteers to get I.P. 17 on this fall’s election ballot. The election division office for the Secretary of State of Oregon had affirmed that Lift Every Voice Oregon group, have obtained enough signatures which were validated. Meaning the fate of all of Oregon Pro 2A constitutionalist who believe in the United States Constitution and more so Second Amendment, will be at the hands of Multnomah, Washington, and Marion County voters.

(Picture tiles of Anti-2A Oregon Representatives that support I.P. 17.)

What’s included on I.P. 17? Here’s what we really want to know, and what it would ban and/or require! The petition currently requests a ban on: Magazines that carry more than 10 rounds. The petition calls for “regulation of sale, purchase and otherwise transferring of all firearms and restriction of the manufacture, import, sale, purchase, transfer, use and possession of ammunition magazines to those that hold no more than 10 rounds will promote the public health and safety of the residents of this state and this Act shall be known as the Reduction of Gun Violence Act”.

Snippet from Secretary of State Reduction of Gun Violence Act I.P. 17.

The stinger here is what the petition wants as requirements! I.P. 17 would require gun owners to: 1) get a permit to purchase any firearm – which cost not more than $65.00, 2) complete a gun safety course, 3) pay a fee to purchase any firearm, 4) provide personal information, 5) submit fingerprints, 6) pictures of the gun owner that purchase or transfer a firearm, 7) pass a criminal background check, 8) serialize gun parts & ammunition magazines, 9) have a lock box in your vehicle to transport your magazine and/or firearm, and lastly 10) Oregon State Police to create a firearm database with purchasers.

Well let’s think about this for a moment and reflect what we all just read! I know sounds silly right? Well, this is a moment that common sense just went right out the front door! Have any of these 120k+ validated signatures of persons ever purchase a firearm? Probably not! Well in the State of Oregon you must provide personal information, pay $10 fee for a firearm background check, submit fingerprints, have a valid and unexpired Oregon state ID, and successfully pass a state and federal background check with every gun purchase! Firearm dealers in the state of Oregon must provide Oregon State Police daily with their transaction logs of who and what was purchased along with photographs of the firearms; and must verify all the above. FFL dealers have very stringent laws to follow, and they do that while crossing their t’s and dotting their i’s.

That covers 6 of the 10 requests for I.P. 17. Now that we’ve addressed a majority of the petition, the remaining 4 requests and magazine ban presents the idea of a power grab and a way to create more tax revenue for the state and a means to further burden law abiding gun owners. Please understand, were all about following laws, safety, and being a resource of information.

However, a fee to purchase a firearm, a fee for a permit, and permit to purchase a firearm encroaches on the second amendment “the right of people to keep and bear arms”. It creates a barrier of entry for those who wish to practice their God given right to bear arms! We also wonder, would a glove box in your vehicle count as a lock box to transport your magazine or gun (one can’t help but laugh)!

This barrier mentioned above is more so present for a prospective buyer, that goes through all the legal steps to purchase a gun from a dealer, whose name is free and clear of felonies and convictions. This measure is a solid form of preventing gun ownership, which is a gun ban and not gun control. All of these “requirements” which are done through creating additional obstructions in the name of “gun control” get passed down to law abiding State of Oregon gun owners, and not criminals who will act in an illegal manner regardless of laws put in place. Lowering the magazine capacity will still not affect criminal activity, it will put law abiding citizens at a severe disadvantage for a given situation where deadly force would be justified use.

The writers of I.P. 17 gives insight to their true intentions, by listing methods already in use for: buying, selling, and transferring a firearm. They write I.P. 17 in a great way to create a blanket or cover for what’s really on the agenda, banning guns. This is done to get the masses of population who have never purchased a firearm or care to take the time to learn gun laws, through fabricating a disinformation campaign, to get those into believing that these methods of firearm background checks are currently not in use, when in reality they already are and have been for decades!

We advocate for proper gun storage, laws, gun safety courses, and for individuals to go get a concealed handgun license frequently. It’s a great way to practice safety, learn your rights, and understand firearm functionality!

History teaches us that lessons from the past 20+ years: all of these initiatives and acts have created a stigma for public and private firearm safety class availability. That which of the past, would be offered as an alternate after-school activity along with other firearm related activities; but no longer are available due to lack of resource funding; and educators who do not wish to be criticized and blacklisted for being part of gun safety advocacy, as the gun control solution. One would call it going against the tide so-to-say. So, to be blunt and translate for those who can’t read in-between the lines; these acts, petitions, and gun ban/control formed laws, create an educational barrier for the availability for understanding firearm safety to the general public. Which puts us in the predicaments that we are currently facing today. ALL OF AMERICA CAN RELATE TO THIS!

Portland Police Bureau Interactive Reported Shooting Incidents 2019-June 2022.

Oregonians are known for passing the buck, and not accepting responsibility for their actions (not all of them but quite a few). Maybe it’s the 9 months of rain that’s caused this behavior. Regardless of the external environment, we are responsible for ourselves, the internal environment and culture we promote, for creating logical reasoning, and how we vote! A vote for in favor of I.P. 17 is not accepting responsibility for the current issues, we as the Nation are facing today! Treating a symptom in hopes of curing the root cause, will never get the results we desire. Holding those accountable for their actions, and reasonable disciplinary measures are needed to recreate a safe general public environment. We’ve moved away from holding those accountable, which is one of many parts of the root cause, that we currently deal with and visually see on a daily basis.

Modern examples of treating symptoms in hopes of curing the root cause are: Defund the police, now in an emergency, 911 dispatch wait times are anywhere between 20 minutes to 1 hour, up to 3 hour wait times for non-emergency. GUN VIOLENCE has surged 155% since 2020. Decriminalization of hard drugs in hopes of getting addicts recovery help for sobriety, less than 1% sought help, and our streets in Portland are littered with needles everywhere. Heroin alone in Oregon is killing our loved ones at a higher rate than gun violence. If one includes: Meth, crack, cocaine, and fentanyl, hard drugs are killing our loved ones 44% higher than gun violence in Oregon.

Oregon Health Authority 2019- May 2022 Opioid death comparison.

Firearm bans and gun control will not work, to curb violence. As a nation we need to educate our citizens with facts and firearm comfortability, create awareness so these disinformation campaigns are easily identified and come to a halt (which is done through firearm educational safety and knowing your state laws and processes), and finally standing ground for your rights. If you don’t stand up for your civil liberties, they will be slowly taken away from us with the grounds of “promise to return how it was”, but we all know that will never happen. Like a 1-time tax, it will always be renewed and burden the law-abiding citizen.