Get Ready Oregon: Red Flag Gun Confiscation Up Next in 2024 Legislative Session

Opinion

Before the Oregon Legislative session has even begun, the far left that controls the state and intimidates Republicans into subservience is at work attacking your gun rights.

Today the “Joint Committee on Legislative Audits” held hearings on “Extreme Risk Protection Orders” and domestic violence. Here is the “report” on extreme risk protection orders provided by the Secretary of State.

You will note that it states, “Based on data provided by OSP, active ERPO respondents tend to be young to middle-aged white men, but the population is small.”

The report does note that a person can be the victim of an ERPO for the “crime” of having lawfully purchased a firearm within the last 180 days. It also notes that a person can lose their gun rights for recently using legal marijuana. It also notes that police request the overwhelming number of ERPOs.

One thing the report does not mention is that people who lose their firearms and their gun rights based on ERPOs are forbidden from using positive mental health assessments in their defense. Nor does it mention that persons who lose their rights and property have not been accused of, let alone convicted of, any crime. Losing your rights because of an extreme risk protection order merely requires an unproven accusation. Once a person loses his rights and possessions under an ERPO, it becomes his responsibility to challenge the ERPO at his own expense and somehow prove he is not “dangerous”. The victim of the ERPO has no opportunity to defend himself when his rights are taken.

It became clear from testimony at the invitation-only hearing that Democrats are planning to add new restrictions to ERPOs to give police even more powers to confiscate personal property.

House Rep Nancy Nathanson complained that a violent offender had access to firearms that police had not seized. But that was after noting that Oregon let this violent offender free after a violent attack, a policy that Democrats in Oregon champion and embrace.

Data from the Secretary of State (who took over the office when Shemia Fagan resigned after it became known that she was on the payroll of Oregon pot dealers) were largely drafted by the rabidly anti-gun “Everytown for Gun Safety”.

ERPOs are a dangerous attack on the rights of people who have not even been accused of a crime. When ERPOs are issued, the police confiscate the firearms of the person who has the order against them, but no other action is taken to ensure that they are not dangerous. All manner of dangerous items are still available to the truly dangerous, and those people are not removed from a household, nor is that person incarcerated, leaving truly dangerous persons free to act violently.

When this law was passed through committee years ago, an amendment was offered that required that if a person was going to lose his rights and possessions because someone accused them of being mentally unbalanced, some effort would have to be made to ensure that the person received some mental health assistance. That amendment was immediately shot down by the Democrats controlling the committee. Any doubt that this law was always intended to be an attack on gun rights evaporated then and there.

It’s safe to say that in the coming “short session,” there will be more attacks on gun rights, even though these sessions were intended to be for minor tweaks to existing law and to address fiscal issues. The Democrats have been claiming they want to concentrate on Oregon’s drug fiasco and rampant homelessness. But do not count on it. The delays in the implementation of Measure 114 restrictions have Democrats furious, so we fully expect more restrictions to come.

The first bill to expand gun prohibitions has already been introduced in draft form. While it claims to be addressing people who have made threats of mass killing, any bill that bans gun ownership has the potential to be amended and expanded to include more people who have done no wrong. Anti-gun fanatic Courtney Neron sponsored the bill.

You can view her draft here.

But the Democrats will have no monopoly on bad legislation.

“Republican” gun control supporter Kevin Mannix has already announced his intention to pass more laws that he claims are intended to address “stalkers”. But when Mannix served in the legislature years ago (and promoted anti-gun legislation), he also pushed “stalking” laws that assumed the guilt of anyone accused. And remember, no bills will see the light of day or be passed unless they serve the needs of the controlling Democrats.

Oregon’s “short” session starts in February. The legislature is still made up of many Republicans who refuse to stand up for your rights even when they can do so at no risk to themselves.

Get ready for another battle.

Read Related: Home Resident Killed by Maryland Police Trying to Confiscate His Guns

About Oregon Firearms Federation:

The Oregon Firearms Federation has proven itself to be Oregon’s only no-compromise lobbying group; OFF takes the same tough stands and serves as a vehicle for educating gun owners, promoting their rights, and, when necessary, fighting the freedom haters in court. Visit: www.oregonfirearms.org