PA Bill Number: HB2235
Title: Providing for regulation of the meat packing and food processing industry by creating facility health and safety committees in the workplace; ...
Description: Providing for regulation of the meat packing and food processing industry by creating facility health and safety committees in the workplace; ... ...
Last Action: Referred to LABOR AND INDUSTRY
Last Action Date: Apr 25, 2024
The Oregon House of Representatives gave its approval Monday to SB 941, the Oregon Firearms Safety Act. :: 05/05/2015
The vote narrowly passed the House, 32-28, with 3 House Democrats voting against the bill.
SB 941 will require Oregonians to undergo a background check when buying a gun from a private, non-licensed seller, even when they're purchasing the gun online.
"We know that background checks work," says Rep. Jennifer Williamson (D-Portland), who carried the bill on the floor. "We know that in states already requiring background checks on private gun sales there are fewer women killed by intimate partners, fewer law enforcement officers shot protecting our communities, and lower rates of gun trafficking."
House Democrats say in states that have passed similar laws, they've seen a 48 percent drop in police officers killed with handguns, 48 percent fewer suicides with handguns and 46 percent fewer women shot to death by intimate partners.
On the other side of the aisle, house republicans say SB 941 does not close any loopholes allowing criminals to get guns. Republicans point out SB 941 does nothing to prevent criminals from stealing guns, or buying them off the black market.
Democrats were undeterred.
"Support for the Second Amendment goes hand in hand with keeping guns out of the hands of dangerous people. That's why federal and state law prohibits felons, domestic abusers, seriously mentally ill people, and certain other dangerous people from buying or possessing guns," says Rep. Dan Rayfield (D-Corvallis). "Background checks are the most systematic way to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people."
House Republicans say at least 12 sheriffs have said the law is “deeply flawed,” and two testified that the law would be hard to enforce.
In a joint statement, former U.S. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and retired Navy combat veteran and NASA astronaut Capt. Mark Kelly, Co-Founders of Americans for Responsible Solutions, praised the Oregon House for passing SB 941.
"Today, Oregon's leaders did the responsible thing: they stood up to the gun lobby and stood up for a commonsense law that will make Oregonians safer. This victory for responsibility in Oregon sends a clear message to the folks in Washington, D.C.: if Congress is not willing to act to reduce gun violence, states around the country can and will take the matter into their own hands," said Giffords and Kelly.
With both the House and Senate's approval, SB 941 heads to Governor Kate Brown for consideration.
http://www.kptv.com/story/28975616/or-dems-pass-bill-closing-gun-sale-background-checks-loophole
