Oregon SB551, School Propoganda

[PiratePast40]

This is another one ripe for gut and stuff. The want to talk to students about proper gun and drug storage but nothing about what's actually in it. After a hearing, they can put anything they want into a bill. For those that have not yet written to legislators or written restimony regarding a bill, this is a good chance to get started.

https://www.oregonfirearms.org/using-schoolchildren-as-pawns

Posted on February 20, 2023 by OFF

Safety or Propaganda?

On March 7th at 3PM the Senate Education Committee is scheduled to hear SB 551.
Senate Bill 551, in its original, unamended form "Requires school districts to provide specified information related to secure storage of medications and firearms. Directs Oregon Health Authority to make information available to school districts."

The bill makes no mention of what that "specified information" is.

It makes no mention of who determines what "specified information" will be provided.

There is no indication that anyone with professional knowledge of firearms and their proper storage will be consulted in the creation or distribution of the "specified information."
In 2021 Oregon Democrats rammed through SB 554 which mandated that self defense firearms be locked up and useless. It required the use of dangerous trigger locks and it prohibited persons under 18 from having access to family firearms to protect themselves in their own home, no matter how well trained and responsible they were.

This ignorant one-size-fits-all policy has placed people in danger of both criminal attack and criminal penalties.

Now the same people who enacted this dangerous legislation want to use schools to promote an anti-gun, anti-self defense agenda.

The bill states "… the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic have exacerbated troubling trends with children and firearms…" but ignores the reality that state programs of lockdowns and isolation are the root cause of the problem and makes no effort to address those issues.

Responsible firearms owners store their firearms in a manner that makes the most sense for their personal circumstances. Democrats in Oregon have interfered with their ability to do so and put them at risk.

We believe that amendments may be added to this bill but in a Democrat controlled legislature we do not anticipate that amendments will improve it.
If the state is going to mandate that schools provide information on the storage of firearms, the state should also mandate that schools provide students with non-biased and professional information on the safe handling of firearms, a suggestion Oregon Democrats regularly resist.

Please take a moment to let the Senate Eduction Committee hear from you.

To register to testify on this bill use this link:
https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2023R1/Committees/SED/2023-03-07-15-00/Agenda
(Click on "Register to Testify" to the right of SB 551)
To Submit written testimony use this link:
https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2023R1/Testimony/SED/SB/551?area=Measures

Read More

 

[DragoonCabbage]

I read the measure and it is so worthless that I don't even see a reason to have any feeling about it whatsoever.

It's 1 page of "whereas we are so concerned about this issue in so many ways" and 1 paragraph mandating various best practices to be made available on all school district websites.

Who is the information directed towards? Presumably parents. Will anyone read it? Possibly dozens. The only functional impact will be to waste peoples time in legislation and in fulfillment of mandate.

I am of two minds about this: I find forceful participation in such asinine behavior offensive. And yet, when asinine people spend their time in asinine ways, they have less time at their disposal for accomplishing anything else that I might find offensive.

 

[monkeybutler]

The required information is quite clear in lines 18+ on page two of the bill. It is not particularly zesty. I'd save the drama for something substantial.

 

[Jade Falcon]

And Oregon becomes California bit by bit.

 

[clanhanson]

If kids are in the household the guns should be locked away, no exceptions. The bill isn't that special and it's all spelled out as mentioned by another member.

 

[titsonritz]

If kids are in the household the guns should be locked away, no exceptions. The bill isn't that special and it's all spelled out as mentioned by another member.

Says you and for you that may appropriate. I grew up with guns in the house without being locked up, so did my children. I'm not telling you* want to do so don't tell me what to do.

ETA:
* = by "you" I mean anyone.

 

[monkeybutler]

In all fairness, "methods for ensuring secure storage of prescription drugs, over-the-counter medications and firearms and ammunition" could readily be twisted around to "your children will be placed in the custody of Carl's Jr."

 

[bradsteen]

Safe storage laws are punitive and reactive. The law will not prevent injury from happening to anyone, just hit a person with additional fines and/or jail time after the injury or death occurs.

 

[PiratePast40]

If kids are in the household the guns should be locked away, no exceptions. The bill isn't that special and it's all spelled out as mentioned by another member.

We already have that law in place. Why do we need another law to tell people to obay the law that was passed last session? If stolen, the way it is now, the owner is responsible for any damage done by the person that stole the gun. Again, do we need to double up?

 

[Dozer99]

If kids are in the household the guns should be locked away, no exceptions.

I'm sorry but this just doesn't work if you live on a Ranch or Farm. Country kids "for the most part" are brought up with a love and respect of guns, and their use as tools. Varmint control was and is a very important part of being a "kid" on a ranch or farm.

For me, I think that hiding guns away from kids is more dangerous and causes more accidents, than teaching respect and proper use of firearms. Hiding something makes it even more intriguing to find "the" thing that is hidden, and in small kids this can be a recipe for disaster. Our society teaches kids from a very early age a game called "hide and go seek", you might have heard of it. We are literally teaching kids from a very young age to look for things that are hidden and what a joy it is to find them. Don't think for a minute that an inquisitive little 10 year old couldn't find out how to unlock a gun case or find out the combo to a safe.

Gun control proponents have lamented for years how easy access to guns is the root cause of gun violence. However, I would bet that there are more guns hanging on kids bedroom walls in the country (all across this Nation) then there are running the streets of our inner cities. If easy access to guns led to gun violence then our farms and ranches would be a collective nightmare of blood running off of front porches and dripping down the wooden front steps!

Repeating the lefts talking points does our side no good. It only emboldens groups like LEVO and Everytown, and they will undoubtedly, continue to use our own words against us.

Just my two cents for what it's worth!

 

[Caveman Jim]

Just your Marxist officials furthering the stranglehold on the rights of their subjects.
Many good people think that they still have stature, well-being and god given rights untouched, wrong, we are but lowly subjects and tax cattle to the hierarchy (Crown).

Good luck y'all.

 

[Nick Burkhardt]

There are about six accidental deaths of children by firearm in Oregon per year. Consistently half of those happen in households of a prohibited possessor, such as a felon or drug dealer, who would not follow any existing or new safe storage laws anyway. The other half are usually teens fooling around or an adult who accidentally shoots a child. Those incidents would best be addressed by safety training in the schools like https://lethallovebirds.com/ was trying to get passed.

 

[Koda]

Is this (another) safe storage law? Or is this a gun safety/training law?
One thing I know is the antis do not, will not, promote "gun culture", so in regards to gun safety instruction I wouldnt trust them to include anything useful to help kids learn what to do if they find a gun.

 

[DragoonCabbage]

Is this (another) safe storage law? Or is this a gun safety/training law?
One thing I know is the antis do not, will not, promote "gun culture", so in regards to gun safety instruction I wouldnt trust them to include anything useful to help kids learn what to do if they find a gun.

It's a "you are required to provide informative material" law. Like the kind that comes with new firearms, except on school district websites.

Mitch Hedberg had an appropriate joke about people handing out leaflets: "Here, YOU throw this away."

There are about six accidental deaths of children by firearm in Oregon per year. Consistently half of those happen in households of a prohibited possessor, such as a felon or drug dealer, who would not follow any existing or new safe storage laws anyway. The other half are usually teens fooling around or an adult who accidentally shoots a child. Those incidents would best be addressed by safety training in the schools like https://lethallovebirds.com/ was trying to get passed.

The safe storage concern isn't restricted to accidental deaths.

Regardless, it's absurd to proliferate unenforceable requirements and force information to be plastered in all manner of locations. It drains the productive potential of society and dilutes the concentration of useful actionable information. If they instead developed a concise information packet of best practices and made it available to FFLs, instructors, and ranges/clubs (where new gun owners are likely to find themselves) free of charge and deliverable on demand, the information would reach the right people at the right time with maximal convenience and minimal effort. But the preference is clearly to issue ineffective dictates.

 

[clanhanson]

I'm sorry but this just doesn't work if you live on a Ranch or Farm. Country kids "for the most part" are brought up with a love and respect of guns, and their use as tools. Varmint control was and is a very important part of being a "kid" on a ranch or farm.

For me, I think that hiding guns away from kids is more dangerous and causes more accidents, than teaching respect and proper use of firearms. Hiding something makes it even more intriguing to find "the" thing that is hidden, and in small kids this can be a recipe for disaster. Our society teaches kids from a very early age a game called "hide and go seek", you might have heard of it. We are literally teaching kids from a very young age to look for things that are hidden and what a joy it is to find them. Don't think for a minute that an inquisitive little 10 year old couldn't find out how to unlock a gun case or find out the combo to a safe.

Gun control proponents have lamented for years how easy access to guns is the root cause of gun violence. However, I would bet that there are more guns hanging on kids bedroom walls in the country (all across this Nation) then there are running the streets of our inner cities. If easy access to guns led to gun violence then our farms and ranches would be a collective nightmare of blood running off of front porches and dripping down the wooden front steps!

Repeating the lefts talking points does our side no good. It only emboldens groups like LEVO and Everytown, and they will undoubtedly, continue to use our own words against us.

Just my two cents for what it's worth!

I was raised in a tiny town, most of my friends were farm kids. I was about 100 yards from being a farm kid. I agree with you that they were generally safe even with unrestricted access. However, there were indeed accidents because family shotguns and rifles were left unlocked and had ammunition nearby. My friend was shot because a loaded shotgun was left in the farm's barn and his little friend thought it would be funny to "pretend" to shoot him. He survived but lost many, many feet of intestine. Other incidents happened as well. Regardless of location, kids are prone to dumb decision making and locking up the weapons is a simple way to help prevent incidents.

Safety isn't a "talking point," it is a requirement to being a responsible firearm owner and enthusiast.

 

[Dozer99]

Regardless of location, kids are prone to dumb decision making and locking up the weapons is a simple way to help prevent incidents.

It's not that I disagree with your argument about safety, but at what point do we stop the "nanny state" mentality? Do we lock up the spoons because too many kids die each year due to obesity? Motor Vehicle accidents are one of the leading killers of Children age 0+ - 18 in the U.S. Should we outlaw a parents right to let their kids ride in a car with them? Most Child homicide's in the U.S are not even weapon related. That's a rabbit hole I promise that you will not like looking down.

Unfortunately, this is one of the oldest anti-gun tricks in the books. Use the kids, because anyone that argues against saving the kids must be a monster. More laws do not equal more safety and no matter how hard we try as a Nation, we will never be able to legislate away stupidly.

 

[monkeybutler]

Unfortunately, this is one of the oldest anti-gun tricks in the books. Use the kids, because anyone that argues against saving the kids must be a monster. More laws do not equal more safety and no matter how hard we try as a Nation, we will never be able to legislate away stupidly.

It's not really "the oldest trick in the book"

There is not any harm in suggesting that guns should be carefully controlled by their owners. They should be.

This is another one of those issues which frequently makes "gun people" look like nutters and in a broad sense impacts gun rights negatively.

Pick battles that we can win.

 

[bradsteen]

I agree that guns should be locked up when not in use. I don't agree that we need a law to enforce that behavior. Instead we should be relying on training and education to help people make good decisions on their own.

 

[mhayd93]

It's not really "the oldest trick in the book"

There is not any harm in suggesting that guns should be carefully controlled by their owners. They should be.

This is another one of those issues which frequently makes "gun people" look like nutters and in a broad sense impacts gun rights negatively.

Pick battles that we can win.

The harm is not in suggestion, but attempted legislation.

Gun owners need to be picking and fighting every battle, not just "ones we can win."

 

[Member 53328]

If kids are in the household the guns should be locked away, no exceptions. The bill isn't that special and it's all spelled out as mentioned by another member.

I'm not going to sit by and let the government or public educators raise/teach/protect my or children. That's my job and I'll do so however I see fit.

The government can go eat a bag of dicks.