A recent article in the local newspaper reported that the Oregon Senate passed a bill on May 5, 2021 that mandates safe storage of guns. Its purpose is to prevent not only accidental shootings by children, but also suicides and mass shootings.
Of course Republican lawmakers “strenuously objected” because, according to them, it “deprives individuals of the ability to defend themselves.”
A second part of the bill was to ban guns from the State Capitol. Currently, concealed handgun licensees can bring firearms into the Capitol.
In opposition to this part of the bill, one of the esteemed Republican Senators spoke on the Senate floor saying he needed a gun to “defend himself from people outside the building.”
His exact words:
When I come into the Capitol, I bring a gun because if I happen to walk out the door – have you seen all the homeless people and the other people walking around here in the evening? I do not feel overly safe outside of this building at night.
Poor dear.
The thing that stood out to me is … how many homeless people have been known to attack/shoot at politicians when they leave a government building? Or even an ordinary person that just happens to be “walking around … in the evening”?
The article concluded with a story relayed by a Representative who used to be a paramedic. She was almost in tears as she told of being called to the home of a fatal shooting of a child by a friend. She said the gun had been found under a bed while they were playing. She concluded her story with this remark:
We could not save him, and he died while his father howled the most unimaginable sounds in the next room.
The Democratic Governor will be reviewing the bill when it reaches her desk. She has repeatedly spoken out about the need to pass sensible gun legislation … so one would anticipate her signature.
And most likely, loud howls from the Republicans.
Nan's Notebook 