By one vote, the Oregon House was able to pass HB 4147, which is final Bloomberg backed bill that’s still alive in the legislature. This bill started off as an indefinite delay bill, meaning that gun buyers who end up “delayed” on their background checks would not be able to take possession of their firearm until the Oregon State Police have completed a background check. The bill was watered down to put a cap on the clock at 10 days, meaning that if the OSP could not find a reason to deny the person, they could take delivery of the merchandise.
The bill passed out the House judiciary committee, where former friend of gun owners flip flopped on his prior statements and voting record, and passed the bill.
He ended up being the “carrier” of the bill on the floor, which means he had to answer questions about the bill and make the case for it.
During the floor discussion on the bill, Rep. Andy Olson asked Barker and bill sponsor Jennifer Williamson if they knew the success rate of preventing “gun violence”, and Williamson refused to answer the follow up question and deferred to Barker, where Olson asked if anyone could cite one example where a crime would have been prevented has this bill been law over the last five years. Barker could not cite one example.
Well known anti gunner Rep Lew Frederick spoke in support of the bill, and said “I’ve already been accused of wanting to get rid of guns. I’ll be very clear. Yes, I do believe there are too many of them in our neighborhoods and on our streets. And I do believe that the sheer number of guns makes us all less safe. I know many feel that a gun in their hands is different, because they will, every one of them, be heroes if ever a situation ever called for heroics happens. But the statistics show that more guns adds up to more violence, more innocent lives lost.”
A rare moment of sanity filled the chamber when Rep. Julie Parrish rose to speak against the bill, and proceeded to shoot down pretty much every talking point that the proponents of the bill used.
The bill’s own sponsor wrapped up the debate by admitting that the bill won’t do anything to prevent crime.
The bill passed 31-28, with Barker being the deciding vote. Three democrats, Brad Witt, Caddy McKeown, and Deborah Boone joined the Republicans in voting against it. The bill is now sitting in the Senate, with Senate president Peter Courtney saying that bill probably won’t move, as time is running out in the short session and he would rather not take on such a controversial bill.
