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If Your Gun Is Stolen & Used To Injure Someone, You're Liable Under New Oregon Anti-Gun Bill

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The ideological left is focused on doing away with the Second Amendment-protected right of citizens to keep and bear arms, and while Democratic gun control efforts have been largely stymied at the federal level, that hasn’t stopped anti-gun liberals from attempting to do their worst at the state level.

Oregon has become a battlefield in the war over gun rights, as politicians in the predominately liberal coastal cities continuously attempt to impose draconian gun laws on the more conservative interior of the state, unfortunately with some level of success in some cases.

The pro-Second Amendment Oregon Firearms Federation reported recently on a proposed piece of legislation known as SB 978, which had initially been introduced as something of an empty bill but has since had a 44-page amendment tacked on that is a nightmare for gun owners in the state.

There are a plethora of provisions within the bill that will, in practice, prove horrifying for gun owners, ranging from things such as age discrimination to mandatory “safe storage” practices, and from bans on home-built firearms to tightened restrictions on where guns can be carried in public.

However, arguably the worst provision is one that would hold gun owners criminally responsible for up to two years for any crime committed with their lost or stolen weapons unless the owner reports the loss or theft to the proper authorities within a small time frame.

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The accountability of gun owners for the criminal use of their firearms is actually hand-in-hand with the mandatory safe storage provision in the proposed law. Sections 5 and 6 of the bill stipulate that, except for when a gun is in use at a shooting range or while hunting, the firearm, and all accessories and ammunition, must at all times be locked in a container, safe or gun room, or rendered inoperable with a cable or trigger lock.

According to Section 8 of the bill, the owner will be held criminally liable for up to two years if:

  • A firearm becomes lost or stolen or found in the possession of a minor.
  • It is found to have been used in a crime to injure or kill somebody or damage property
  • It is determined that the firearm was not properly stored in accordance with the law.

The owner isn’t liable if the theft is reported to authorities within 72 hours.

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This two-year accountability for gun owners would also apply to lawful transfers of firearms that are later used in crimes if the firearm was not transferred with a cable or trigger lock, as required under the safe storage provisions.

As bad as all that is, holding lawful gun owners legally liable for the criminal misuse of lost or stolen or transferred firearms if not immediately reported was not the only horrible aspect of this incredibly unconstitutional bill.

The OFF noted that the bill would allow gun dealers and retailers to arbitrarily set a minimum age of purchase for firearms and ammunition anywhere between 18 and 21, which would allow for the discrimination of law-abiding young adults by denying them a Constitutional right to purchase and possess firearms.

The bill would also impose strict regulations on “80 percent lower receivers” — as well as 3D-printed firearms — that gun owners can complete and build at home with parts kits and a few specific tools. Those firearms and components, deemed “undetectable” and “untraceable” by the proposed law, would require a background check and registration for purchase, as well as a stamped serial number or “detailed description” placed on record with law enforcement.

The measure would also increase the fees for a concealed carry license and allow for certain entities — from cities and municipalities to airports, schools and universities — to declare any “public building,” even ones not necessarily under the entity’s control or on its property, as being off-limits to licensed gun carriers.

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The OFF raised quite a stink about the contents and ramifications of the proposed bill — particularly the “public buildings” provision.

“In essence, it would be almost impossible for you to leave your home with a firearm without the risk of committing a felony,” the organization wrote on their website.

Few, if any, of the provisions in the bill would reduce gun crime or hold criminals who misuse firearms accountable for their actions. Instead, the bill seems to place guilt on law-abiding gun owners with threats of legal liability for the criminal acts of others.

In truth, the bill isn’t designed to reduce gun crime at all but is instead aimed at reducing the number of lawful gun owners in the state, either by turning them into felons overnight or by discouraging them from becoming a legal gun owner in the first place.

This sort of blatant assault on a Constitutionally-protected right is nothing short of intolerable, and it should be opposed with exactly the same sort of fury as would be leveled at efforts to censor free speech or remove the right of due process, or any of the other cherished rights that we hold so dear in this free country.

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Ben Marquis is a writer who identifies as a constitutional conservative/libertarian. He has written about current events and politics for The Western Journal since 2014. His focus is on protecting the First and Second Amendments.
Ben Marquis has written on current events and politics for The Western Journal since 2014. He reads voraciously and writes about the news of the day from a conservative-libertarian perspective. He is an advocate for a more constitutional government and a staunch defender of the Second Amendment, which protects the rest of our natural rights. He lives in Little Rock, Arkansas, with the love of his life as well as four dogs and four cats.
Birthplace
Louisiana
Nationality
American
Education
The School of Life
Location
Little Rock, Arkansas
Languages Spoken
English
Topics of Expertise
Politics




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