02.12.15

In the wake of another county (Clackamas) announcing its intention to hear a resolution in support of the 2nd Amendment, anti-gun rights organizations are pulling out all the stops and asking their few supporters to contact the Clackamas County Commission and lie to them.

This is nothing new. The entire foundation of the anti-gun movement is built on fraud, but it’s surprising that with the facts being available to anyone, that they would continue to rely on deception.

In a flier sent out by Ceasefire Oregon, they said :

“Clackamas County Commissioners will meet today, February 10, to consider a resolution against expanded background checks for gun sales, enabling felons to buy guns. “

This is, of course, absurd. But they went on:

“Tell the Commissioners that you and 87% of Oregon voters support expanded background checks on gun sales.”

This invented, and ever changing, statistic is getting more transparently false with every county that adds their name to the growing list of defenders of the 2nd Amendment.

But just when you think they’ve maxed out their ability to blatantly lie, they go full tilt into their own private fantasy land with this whopper:



“In 2013 alone, background checks stopped over 2,000 prohibited people in Oregon from getting guns.”

In fact, background checks in Oregon have stopped almost no prohibited persons from getting guns!

Here are the statistics, provided by the Oregon State Police themselves, on the great “success story” that is the Oregon background check system.

From June 17, 2014 to August 31, 2014, 331 people were denied firearms purchases at gun stores. The number of arrests of “felons”? A whopping 3!

Of the 40 people the OSP claimed were actually wanted for a crime a the time of the denial, exactly 4 were arrested!

In September of 2014, 136 people were denied firearms transfers at gun stores. The number of “felons” arrested? Exactly 2.

Of the 15 people OSP claims were actively “wanted” the number arrested was again, a mere 4!

In October of 2014 the OSP denied 196 transfers. The number of arrests of “felons” was….none. Of the 26 people the OSP claimed were “wanted” at the time, the number of people arrested was, oddly, again only 4! (Must be a bag limit on wanted people.)

In November, OSP denied 203 sales. Felons arrested? One. Yes. One. But in November, the OSP jacked its arrests of actively wanted people up to 6. That’s 6 out of 33! 27 “wanted” people walked away.

In December there were 197 denials. Felons arrested? 3. Yes, 3! Of the 20 people OSP said were “wanted” they arrested 6. Once again the other 14 were free to walk the streets.

This is not ringing endorsement for the system CFO wants expanded to the guns you want to lend to a family member. Especially since most people who are denied are denied with no justification. Of the number the police say are real “bad guys,” almost none are arrested. Of the ones who are arrested we have no way of knowing how many really should have been arrested and how many, if any, were prosecuted.

So CFO’s number of “2000 prohibited people” being stopped from getting guns, is more than mere fantasy, it is edging ever closer to genuine delusion.

A copy of the proposed resolution can be seen here. Only people with serious personal issues will be able to find anything in this document that enables “felons to buy guns.” In fact the resolution does not even mention background checks, although we hope the final version will include an opposition to their expansion.

This resolution will be voted on on Feb 19th at 6 PM. The delusional anti-gunners are hoping to turn out a large crowd (well large for them) in hopes of defeating it. We strongly urge that you do all you can to be at this meeting and show support.

The meeting will be held at 2015 Kaen Road in Oregon City. If you cannot participate please send a message of support to Clackamas County Commissioners. Contact info and a sample message follow.

bcc@clackamas.us

Dear Clackamas County Commissioner,

Thank you for joining many other counties in an expression of support for the 2nd Amendment. No doubt you are receiving messages in opposition. Please be aware that many of those messages contain outright falsehoods. An anti-gun organization has told their members that your resolution “enables felons to buy guns.” This is preposterous. But even worse, they have lied about the current firearm’s background check system, claiming it stopped “over 2000 prohibited persons” from getting guns in Oregon in 2013. This is an outright lie. The statistics from the Oregon State Police themselves show that the background check system stops almost no felons from getting guns, while denying transfers to countless qualified buyers. The anti-gunners are even saying that you are “helping to arm domestic abusers and felons!” Clearly these people are desperate and willing to tell any lie to defeat this important resolution. I urge you to pass it and include a specific objection to the expansion of this failed system to private transfers.

Yours,

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