Summaries of several gun-control initiatives are up for public comment, giving Oregonians two weeks to try to change the precise wording voters would see on the November ballot if the proposals make it that far.

The initiatives would create preconditions to buying semiautomatic weapons, ban all sales of semiautomatic weapons to people under 21 and ban magazines that carry more than 10 rounds. Semiautomatic firearms fire a round with each pull of the trigger.

The effort is the latest chapter in the effort by three Oregon faith leaders to increase state regulation of a class of weapons that have been used in mass shootings across the country.

“There’s not a student in Oregon that has not had to deal with the threat of mass shootings,” said the Rev. W.J. Mark Knutson, a pastor at Portland’s Augustana Lutheran Church. “We have to be concerned about life.”

One of the initiatives deals with semiautomatic gun sales and another deals with magazine manufacture and sales. Another one combines both proposals.

Knutson and the rest of Lift Every Voice Oregon, the religious coalition behind the petitions, will gather signatures for only one of the three proposals, Knutson said. The group will decide which one after the proposal language for all three is approved for signature collection.

The Oregon Firearms Federation’s executive director, Kevin Starrett, objected to the initiatives.

“We oppose any effort to limit people’s rights to protect their families, to punish the victims of theft while doing nothing to deter criminals or violate the very clear and unambiguous language of the Second Amendment,” Starrett said in a written statement.

Here is what the proposals would do.

Initiative 60 would:

-- Allow only gun dealers to sell certain semiautomatic weapons. The gun dealer would have to confirm that the person buying the gun has gone through a safety training course and has passed a criminal background check.

-- Require a five-day waiting period from the day a background check is requested.

-- Make 21 the minimum age to buy a semiautomatic weapon.

-- Prohibit manufacturing and selling magazines with more than 10 rounds, except for law enforcement and armed forces.

Initiative 61 would do the same things as Initiative 60 except it drops the magazine provision.

Initiative 62 would only prohibit manufacturing and selling magazines with more than 10 rounds.

The comments people submit to the Secretary of State’s Office in the next two weeks could affect the initiative summary that voters may eventually see. The deadline to submit comments for the combined initiative is Jan. 29. The deadline for the other two is Jan. 31.

The Attorney General’s Office will review the comments then publish the final version of the ballot titles. If those versions don’t satisfy somebody, they have 10 days to appeal to the Supreme Court.

That kind of appeal can substantially complicate the process. It takes time for the Supreme Court to review an appeal and, if the court rules for the people filing the appeal, it takes time for the attorney general to change the ballot title language. Lift Every Voice Oregon cannot gather signatures while the petitions are winding their way through the bureaucracy.

That’s exactly what happened in 2018, when several gun rights groups appealed Lift Every Voice Oregon’s petition to ban sales of certain semiautomatic weapons. The National Rifle Association, Oregon Hunters Association and Oregon Firearms Federation appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing that the terms “assault weapons” and “large capacity magazines” were misleading.

The Supreme Court sided with the gun rights groups and ordered the attorney general to change to the ballot title. As a result, Lift Every Voice Oregon ran out of time to gather signatures by the deadline.

That’s unlikely to happen this year, Knutson said, because Lift Every Voice Oregon started the process earlier this time around.

The 2018 initiative was controversial in other ways. Rep. Bill Post, R-Keizer, published contact information for Knutson and the two other chief petitions, and urged gun rights supporters to personally contact them.

2020 is shaping up to be a busy year for gun control.

In addition to Knutson’s semiautomatic gun initiatives, a ballot proposal to require guns to be locked up when not in use is making its way through the initiative process. And lawmakers are considering a legislative proposal that would do the same.

Comments can be scanned and emailed to irrlistnotifier.sos@oregon.gov; faxed to 503-373-7414 or mailed to 255 Capitol St. NE Ste 501, Salem OR 97310. They must be submitted by 5 p.m. of the deadline day.

Have a tip? Get in touch.

-- Fedor Zarkhin

fzarkhin@oregonian.com

call: 503-294-7674|text: 971-373-2905|tweet: @fedorzarkhin

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