A voter-approved Oregon gun control law violates the state constitution, a judge ruled Tuesday, continuing to block it from taking effect and casting fresh doubt over the future of the embattled measure.
The law requires people to undergo a criminal background check and complete a gun safety training course in order to obtain a permit to buy a firearm. It also bans high-capacity magazines.
The plaintiffs in the federal case, which include the Oregon Firearms Federation, have appealed the ruling to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The case could potentially go all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Can you imagine the response if Congress passed a law that said you must complete “voter training” prior to each election before being allowed to vote? Because we all know that there are lots of voters who know absolutely nothing about the people and issues they are voting on, simply voting as their party wishes. And what if the voter had to pay for that training? Do we set aside the Bill of Rights for the overall good of the country?
I get that there is a big problem with shootings. But these gun control measures do nothing other than make politicians points with their constituents. Live in a state that bans assault weapons and >10 round magazines? Go to a state without those restrictions and buy what you want - if you’re going to commit a crime, why care that you are breaking the law by doing so? Anyone with a little mechanical skill, a hobby lathe, and a 3D printer can manufacture a fully automatic gun. And imagine the carnage if an unbalanced person waited for a windy day, stole a gasoline tanker, fitted it with an electric pump and nozzles, then started a huge wildfire just upwind of a major city. Take away guns and the crazies will turn to other means of carrying our their killing spree.
Want a real solution? That’s going to cost you. Universal mental health care, free education and job training, and programs to find “loners”, who are involved in most mass shootings, then evaluate their risk to the public and themselves.
Respectfully, reality doesn’t agree with your opinion. In states where elected officials have taken action to pass gun safety laws, fewer people die by gun violence. These laws absolutely work.
Yeah, sounds so simple. Totally not more effort than walking into a store and buying one.
Totally agree there - and there is no reason we can’t have that AND reasonable gun laws. Never understood the false dichotomy.
I’m glad you put “loners” in quotations because these people didn’t get radicalized alone. Top law enforcement officials say the biggest domestic terror threat comes from white supremacists. These are not “lone wolves.” They have been brainwashed by extreme right-wingers to hate anyone who is different.
Thanks for the well-worded reply. My concern is that we are preventing citizens from exercising a right. Restricting guns seems like the easy thing to do - if you’re not a gun rights supporter. I live in a place where it can take law enforcement a while to reach me. Until then, I’m on my own. Being limited to a 10-round magazine and going up against someone with a 100-round rotary magazine could leave me dead. I hope it never happens, but it could. There are illegal pot farms up here, and being suspected of turning one in can get ugly quick.
We have yet to exhaust other less intrusive ways to curtail gun violence. The fact that all psychological disqualifying conditions are not used to determine gun purchases is appalling to me. Politicians are more concerned that a person might avoid seeking treatment to hide their condition. And how can some who have threatened or committed unwarranted violence on others still buy a firearm? These issues need to be addressed before the government infringes on everyone’s right. Instead of legislating to address the least common denominator, stop those who’ve proven they lack good judgement from obtaining a weapon in the first place.