Update 03/06/14 - Oregon SB1551 - Tool Box - GutNStuff Try!

[tiggers97]

See post #22 for the latest update!

Round 2 of the Senate merry-go-round!

As you may, or may not, know SB1551 (expanded background check bill) was passed out of the Senate Judicial Committee and on the “Senate Committee on Rules”. Technically, the Judicial Committee didn't vote on the bill itself. If they had, it would be headed to the senate floor for a final vote by all the senators later this month.
Instead, because it is the last day the Judicial Committee was in session, they voted to pack up SB1551 and its amendments and pass the file over to the rules committee. The Rules committee is still in session, so they could theoretically still work on the bill in the future, wait and twist more arms in the hopes of getting more votes, or just let it lay there and die at the end of the session. Either way, we need to keep an eye on it like a wounded and cornered animal.
So, at this point, how can we keep the pressure up on them, and make sure that wounded, cornered animal stays down?

1. Contact the State Senate Judiciary Committee today!

Let them know what’s bad in the bill, why it’s a bad bill, etc. (and maybe CC: a couple key Judiciary members as well?)
Diane Rosenbaum (D) Anti-2A
503-986-1700
[email protected]

Ted Ferriolli (R)
503-986-1950
[email protected]

Lee Beyer (D)
503-986-1706
[email protected]

Ginny Burdick (D) Anti-2A
503-986-1718
[email protected]

Bruce Starr (R)
503-986-1715
[email protected]

And/or send a message to your legislator!
Legislator Lookup

Or send the Senate President a friendly note! After all, he would have to agree to bring a gut-n-stuff bill to the floor:

​Senator Peter Courtney
Capitol Phone: 503-986-1600
Email: [email protected]
Website: Senator Peter Courtney Home Page

2. Get others involved!

• Watching the game with a group of like-minded buddies? During a break, spend a few minutes to protect your rights. Your buddies asking what your doing? Take advantage of the time to show them what your doing, and how easy it is to send your rep and the Senate rules committee a message!
• Pass this on to other website forums, gun ranges, other interested parties. Get the word out. Don't assume everyone knows.
• Please circulate this information and urge others to take 5 minutes to write and/or call.
• Start your own local group. We are working on helping others get started. This is more of a long-term project. But we need to not just be defensive in the future.

3. Don't forget to thank our friends!

• Is your state rep/senator voting no on this bill? Be sure to send them a thank you. Let them know your paying attention.

• Senator Betsy Johnson has been receiving a great amount of pressure from the gun-control lobby (see post #5 below). She's got our back on this issue, so please be sure to give her your support. Please give her a call, email, letter expressing your thanks for her efforts and strong will in standing up to these underhanded techniques.

https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/johnson
[email protected]
(503) 986-1716

Note: If you live in Senator Johnson's district, or know someone who does, and gets one of these pressure anti-gun phone calls, try to milk them for information so we can find out who's doing the telemarketing.


What’s next?
Get your second wind and keep an eye out. I don’t know what exactly work sessions or hearings they have on SB1551. But I will do my best to keep folks updated in this thread. One can also subscribe to the Oregon Firearms Federation as well.

If anyone has background on the above senators on the Senate Rules Committee, feel free to share.

Read More

 

[tiggers97]

Example letters:
Add your own to the list for others to use!
I urge you to vote NO on SB 1551. This bill is a registration scheme pure and simple. It does nothing to prevent felons from getting guns but is an unwarranted invasion of my privacy.
Vote against any restrictions on private transfers.
Yours,
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Senator,
SB 1551 requires that virtually all private transfers of firearms receive the approval of the State Police. I find that to be offensive and intrusive. Currently qualified buyers at gun dealers are waiting weeks and even months to be “approved” by the police to exercise a basic right. I strongly oppose extending this to private transfers and gifts.
Vote against any restrictions on private transfers.
Yours,
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Senator,
SB 1551 is one of the most poorly crafted pieces of legislation I have ever seen.
Under this bill an uncle can give a gun to his nephew but the nephew cannot return it without subjecting his uncle to a background check!
Under this bill I could not give a hunting rifle to my own father-in-law!
If my gun club allows someone taking a safety class to use one of our club owned guns, we’d be required to run a background check on the student and transfer the gun for the duration of the class. The student would then have to do the same to return it! This is lunacy.
Vote against any restrictions on private transfers.
Yours,
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Or here are some resources to craft our own!

The Case Against Gun Background Checks - ABC News
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics...ground-checks/

Oregon doesn't need to expand gun background checks | The Oregon Catalyst
Oregon doesn?t need to expand gun background checks | The Oregon Catalyst

Oregon media peddling partisan background check poll | The Oregon Catalyst
Oregon media peddling partisan background check poll | The Oregon Catalyst

Colorado recalls: voter polling that matters | The Oregon Catalyst
Colorado recalls: voter polling that matters | The Oregon Catalyst
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Some other points, backed up with data

"DOJ report:Firearm-Related Murders Down 39 % Since 1993" , per “Firearm Violence, 1993-2011”, U.S. Department of Justice special report, May 2013.

Fact vs. fiction on background checks and the gun control debate | Fox News

In 2010, there were 2393 denials in Oregon, but only 90 prosecutions. Either the remaining 2303 were not worthy of follow up by the Oregon Police, or they were false positives.
--------------------------------
Dear Senator,
It's clear that SB 1551 is nothing more than an effort to expand gun registration. The very records the State Police claim to be destroying are required to be kept by private parties. Failure to keep these records is a crime and there is no provision for a person who has legitimately lost them. Why should I be required to keep records (perhaps forever) the State Police are required to destroy?

Even the Oregon Sheriff's Association recognizes this serves no legitimate law enforcement purpose.

Vote NO on SB 1551
--------------------------------

Credit: boarder4life81

"Dear Senator,

I realize your time is precious and you have an extremely short session to accomplish much in so I'll be brief. SB 1551 is a poorly written bill, full of quick patch amendments, on a very complicated and controversial subject. This bill never should have been introduced during a short session, little lone passed onto another committee. Sadly, others are too driven by personal agenda (and possibly out of state money) to care and have passed this buck onto you. I urge you to vote NO on SB 1551. Send the message that you will not accept someone else’s mess to clean up during a short session.

Thank you for your time."
--------------------------------

 

[tiggers97]

All,

We are not out of the woods yet. The bill is still "alive", like a walking dead zombie. Keep contacting the committee, keep contacting your rep. Keep finding friends and getting them to drop a line (call/email/letter). We need to keep the pressure up.

Don't let this guy beat us! (that would be really sad, on more than one level)

<broken link removed>

 

[PiratePast40]

Don't forget to thank Senator Betsy Johnson. She's the lone Democrat that's keeping this bill from going to the floor. She's under attack from her party and from Prozanski. By taking this stand, she's jeopardized her opportunity to receive money from Bloomberg and others in anti-2A crowd. I consider her to be taking a bold and courageous political stand for the citizens of Oregon. A quick email or call to her office is in order to thank her.
https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/johnson
[email protected]
(503) 986-1716

 

[BSG 75]

Don't forget to thank Senator Betsy Johnson. She's the lone Democrat that's keeping this bill from going to the floor. She's under attack from her party and from Prozanski. By taking this stand, she's jeopardized her opportunity to receive money from Bloomberg and others in anti-2A crowd. I consider her to be taking a bold and courageous political stand for the citizens of Oregon. A quick email or call to her office is in order to thank her.
https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/johnson
[email protected]
(503) 986-1716

Senator Johnson called me on Saturday to thank me for an email I sent her. She told me about the pressure the antis are putting on her. They had Sandy Hook parents calling her. They had people cold-calling senior citizens and telling them "Did you know Sen. Johnson wants criminals to be able to buy guns without background checks?", and then if they got the person worked up they would say "Would you like to tell Sen. Johnson what you think of her?" and would connect the person to her office. She said she could hear the operatives coaching the person on the line as to what to say. If the person didn't deliver an anti-gun message they would be disconnected. She said the calls were coming in as fast as her staff could answer them. After all of that pressure she received she really appreciated the supportive email I sent.

Give her office a call of support or send a short email. I told Sen. Johnson that we in the gun owner community are behind her. Let her know we have her back.

 

[PiratePast40]

^^ I knew that Prozanski was getting close to slanderous with his tirades against her, but had no idea that there were other groups involved. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[tiggers97]

... She told me about the pressure the antis are putting on her. They had Sandy Hook parents calling her. They had people cold-calling senior citizens and telling them "Did you know Sen. Johnson wants criminals to be able to buy guns without background checks?", and then if they got the person worked up they would say "Would you like to tell Sen. Johnson what you think of her?" and would connect the person to her office. She said she could hear the operatives coaching the person on the line as to what to say. If the person didn't deliver an anti-gun message they would be disconnected. She said the calls were coming in as fast as her staff could answer them....

Wow. That's a new level of low this time around. Any way to trace the calls to see who is originating them? Anyone on our side who's gotten one of these calls, and can find out who exactly is doing it?

Maybe help the senator our and provide scripts to counter the operatives? I'm feeling a need to bookmark a few of the Astoria area newspapers now....

 

[BSG 75]

Wow. That's a new level of low this time around. Any way to trace the calls to see who is originating them?

She said something about the phone banks were operating out of Arizona. Maybe Mark Kelly/Gabby Gifford's group, probably funded by Bloomberg's money.

 

[tiggers97]

Just sent her an email, and will update the first post to remind people to be sure to thank our friends.

Also, if we can positively identify who is making these calls, I think it might warrant a call-campaign of our own!

 

[tkdguy]

She said something about the phone banks were operating out of Arizona. Maybe Mark Kelly/Gabby Gifford's group, probably funded by Bloomberg's money.

Let's continue to "aggressively" support those with emails or phone calls to all that OPPOSE SB 1551. It maybe that Mayor Bloomy and the Spaceman's advocates are call the Senators. Let's do the same with flooding emails and phone calls of support.

With an ultimate goal of gun confiscation the next step is genocide and repression of the masses.

 

[tkdguy]

She said something about the phone banks were operating out of Arizona. Maybe Mark Kelly/Gabby Gifford's group, probably funded by Bloomberg's money.

Let's continue to "aggressively" support those with emails or phone calls to all that OPPOSE SB 1551. It maybe that Mayor Bloomy and the Spaceman's advocates are call the Senators. Let's do the same with flooding emails and phone calls of support to those that oppose SB 1551.

With an ultimate goal of gun confiscation the next step is genocide and repression of the masses.

 

[dlurvey]

Classic examples from Alinsy's "Rules for Radicals".
RULE 8: "Keep the pressure on. Never let up." and Rule 10: "The major premise for tactics is the development of operations that will maintain a constant pressure upon the opposition.

 

[tiggers97]

March 5th is the last day of the Legislative session this year. Only two weeks left to go, or 9 business days.

We need to keep up the pressure to make sure this bill gets defeated, and send a message to the senate that these crazy ideas are a third rail issue.

So please, this next week make it a personal goal to be sure to email/write/call into the Senate Rules Committee. The first two posts of this thread make it as easy as can be to even just send a quick email to have waiting for them Monday morning.

Keep the full-nelson pressure on them! Don't let it get quiet, and make them think they can do something sneaky.

 

[tkdguy]

Please keep up the pressure. I just sent my emails of opposition to the committee members and have letters going out tomorrow! Please everyone pict in. Thanks a lot. Let's be prepared!

 

[tiggers97]

I tend to get a bit wordy, but certainty shorter messages probably carry just as much weight when the politicians are looking for overall public response at this point. Please keep the pressure up this week!

------------------
Dear members of the Senate Rules Committee,

I've become aware of SB1551, expanded background checks for Oregon. I've been spending some time looking into the arguments and numbers that both sides on this issue have been using, as well as the politics that have been used to try and advance this bill. And I've found one side lacking.

In short, please vote NO on SB1551. It's a solution looking for a problem, and it isn't for Oregon.

There is not a loop-hole. Each time I see a new number, statement, or another poll result that comes out, I try to look past the twitter length headline that the gun-control lobby puts out and dive into the weeds to see what the gun-control lobbyist are actually saying. And each time I am amazed at the depths that they will go in an attempt to fool the public and representatives.

For example: during the testimony, Ceasefire Penny Okamoto stated that "In states that require background checks for all handgun sales: The rate of women murdered by an intimate partner with a gun in 2010 was 38% lower than in other states, while the rate of those murdered by other means was nearly identical".

The statement references a Mayors Against Illegal Guns (MAIG) report. When I found the actual report, the 'dramatic' 38% reduction ended up being a reduction of 5 to 3 homicides... PER 1,000,000 PEOPLE! To put that in perspective a paperclip is ~1mm thick. Make a stack of 5 paperclips. Make a stack of 3 paperclips. Then make a third stack of one-million (1,000,000) paperclips. That's a 0.62 mile high stack! In other words, there really is no effect! Even with a telescope, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

I've located and downloaded the numbers from the 2011 US Department of Justice report sited. Just for fun I'm also going to look at 2009, 2010, and 2012 to see if I can re-create MAIGs report for those years as well. With the minute difference in the numbers, statistically I will not be surprised to find that the numbers go back and forth (i.e. there is no correlation between expanded background checks and domestic violence homicides).

"but if it saves only one life..." is a typical response. Then lets focus on that one person in danger, instead of focusing on an area where we do not have a problem, especially when we know this bill won't have the intended effect! Let's not pass this bill "just because"!

When lobbyists are constantly using misleading statement or cherry-picked data I would be highly skeptic of what they use to try and sway opinion in the future.

 

[Steve M]

Just sent another round of e-mails to the Senate Rules Committee members. All that we have to do is show them that this is a complex and divisive issue and they will probably let it die.

 

[Delta Lima]

Let's keep this on the front page.

 

[tiggers97]

Update: Nearing the finish-line with only days to go... So keep an eye out and keep those email/phone messages pouring in to the Rules Committee, representative, Senator Courtney, etc.

From Oregon Firearms Federation, Facebook Page:
"Plenty of rumors coming out of Salem. Could be a gut and stuff of 1551, could be a new bill. Word is the language or bill will have to do with denying guns to people with "mental disorders," a term we can find no definition for. We'll see.

This could all add up to nothing, but it would not be the first time Courtney pulled a fast one and tried to ram through a bill at the very last minute with no public input. That's how he rolls."

Note: Senator Courtney's contact info. Wouldn't hurt to send a little note his way while your contacting the other reps, as he is the one with the final say

&#8203;Senator Peter Courtney
Party: Democrat
District: 11

Capitol Phone: 503-986-1600
Capitol Address: 900 Court St NE, S-201, Salem, OR, 97301
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.oregonlegislature.gov/courtney

 

[tiggers97]

Update: Update: Send a response and tell at least three friends/other places (and kindly ask that they do the same as well)

From Oregon Firearms Federation:

"The Rumors Were True.
The Senate Democrats are trying to gut and stuff SB 1551.

They have introduced 32 pages of amendments to the bill!
The amendment appears to have provisions for denying guns to people with "mental disorders" which, as we noted earlier, we can find no definition for.

It also has provisions for notifying the police if a person fails a background check.
That part would make perfect sense if the person was a criminal, but all too often denials are mistakes by the OSP. If they can't get that right then having the cops show up at your house because OSP screwed up could get real ugly.
We have not had time to analyze the lengthy amendment but clearly they are going to try to move SOMETHING. Keep an eye out."

 

[Hawaiian]

Notifying police if a person fails a background check? WTF? It is the OSP who denied it, so the police are already aware. Whoever drafted this is the one with a "mental disorder".