Oregon bill would
cap magazines to 5 rds, ration ammo to 20 rds/month
01/14/19 6:30 AM | by Chris Eger
Gun owners would have to get a permit, limit magazines to
five rounds or less, and be content with 20 cartridges a month, under a plan in
the Oregon Senate. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)
Legislation submitted in the Democrat-controlled Oregon
legislature would fundamentally change the state’s firearm laws, recasting them
as the most restrictive in the country.
State Sen. Rob Wagner has submitted SB 501 for the
upcoming session. Wagner’s bill would require licensing
for gun owners prior to purchase, outlaw firearm magazines capable of holding
more than five rounds and limit individual ammunition sales to no more than 20
rounds every 30 days.
Wagner conceded to local
media that it was “probably a long shot that something like this passes in
whole cloth,” but is proceeding with the measure on behalf of a group of
student gun control advocates. A Portland-area Democrat, Wagner was endorsed by New York billionaire Michael
Bloomberg’s Everytown group who also contributed directly
to his campaign last fall.
Besides its restrictions on ammunition and requirements
for licensing, SB 501 would also mandate that background checks be delayed for
14-days so that state police can research would-be buyers, fine gun owners who
failed to report lost or stolen firearms and require guns be locked up when not
in use. There would be no grandfathering of magazines affected by the ban.
The bill is strongly opposed by both
state and national gun rights groups as well as Republicans in the legislature.
“Oregonians need to show up at the Capitol and express
their concern over their personal safety and the harm caused by this kind of
legislation,” said Rep. Bill Post, R-Keizer,
who went on to point out that everyone from hunters unable to meet their
allowed bag limit due to lack of ammo to gun owners who would have their
now-legal firearms outlawed had skin in the game.
“That means your old six shot revolver would be required
to be turned in or destroyed,” said Post.
While Washington, D.C., nine U.S. states, and a number of
municipalities have arbitrary restrictions on magazine capacity, none would set
the bar as low as Oregon’s proposed law. When New York adopted a seven round
restriction as part of their SAFE Act in 2013, a federal judge overturned it the
next year, saying that it violated the Second Amendment, leaving many counties
in the Empire State to stop enforcing it.
Democrats enjoy a super-majority in both the Oregon House
and Senate and have muscled several anti-gun bills
through Salem to the waiting desk of fellow Dem, Gov. Kate Brown. Brown, who
has in the past directed state police to track and analyze gun transactions,
while urging Congress to ban “assault weapons” and enact no fly/no buy
legislation, picked up a $250,000 donation
from Bloomberg in 2016.
No comments:
Post a Comment