01.05.16

Today the Senate Judiciary Committee formally introduced Floyd Prozanski’s LC 250 which we told you about earlier this week. The bill was introduced as a “Committee Bill” which means Prozanski won’t have his name on it.

As you know, this bill will allow totally unqualified people to make anonymous accusations against others and claim those people are experiencing “mental health emergencies.” Those people lose their rights to buy a firearm.

These accusations will not be investigated, the accused will not know the accusation has been made unless they try to buy a gun nor will they be allowed to know who their accuser is or how long their rights will be suspended.

If they choose to challenge the accusations, they assume the full burden of proving they are not mentally ill and all of the expense.

The Committee approved the bill on a 1 to 3 vote. All Democrats voted yes, Senator Thatcher voted no and Senator Jeff Kruse is recovering from surgery and was absent.

The Democrats are:

Floyd Prozanski Sen.FloydProzanski@state.or.us

Sara Gelser Sen.SaraGelser@state.or.us

Diane Rosenbaum Sen.DianeRosenbaum@state.or.us

The Republican who voted to protect your rights is:

Senator Kim Thatcher Sen.KimThatcher@state.or.us

Today’s vote was not a vote to pass the bill out of committee. It was to formally introduce the draft as a bill. The next step will be actual hearings on the bill during the coming session in February.

It is interesting to note that another draft is being considered. This is LC 217 which establishes a tip hotline to report threats to students such as “cyber bullying.” That proposed legislation would require that any tip be investigated to determine if it is authentic. LC 250 provides no such protection for people who will lose their gun rights.

We will continue to monitor this legislation as it moves through the system. Be prepared to take action and contact your legislators who can be found here.