Oregon HB 2543, which will allow the State Police to delay a firearm’s purchase forever even when there is no denial on a background check, has been scheduled for a hearing on February 18th 2021 At 1PM.

The summarized language of the bill is expressed here:

"Prohibits transfer of firearm by gun dealer or private party if Department of State Police is unable to determine whether recipient is qualified to receive firearm."

Currently both Oregon and Federal law allow a buyer to take possession of a firearm if the State Police do not issue an approval after 3 business days as long as there has not been an actual denial.

According to reports, the OSP has a long history of failing to complete background checks and things have only gotten much worse since Covid and the increase in attempted purchases.

The OSP’s “Firearms Instant Check” unit may reportedly even “cancel” firearms sales that they do not want to bother investigating with no apparent lawful authority to do so, according to some observers.

People who are delayed are faced with the frustration of contacting the OSP “challenge line” only to likely have their calls ignored or mishandled.

Anyone who has tried to deal with a state agency or collect an unemployment check during the Covid lock=down knows how easily the state can simply ignore you.

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

If this bill is passed persons who have no criminal history of any kind will have no recourse if the State Police either mismanage the background check or simply refuse to conduct one.

A person whose safety is in danger can be told by OSP that they are simply out of luck. There are reports of “delays” on gun purchases that have gone on for several years. Under this bill gun buyers will be totally at the whim of yet another failed state agency.

As you know, Oregonians are no longer allowed to testify against legislation in the Capitol.

While the Democrat controlled legislature has invented a “process” to testify in writing or “remotely” and pretended that this is a fair replacement, in fact, actually getting your testimony on the record is entirely hit or miss.

Below are the “instructions” for submitting testimony now that you have been locked out of the building. Make sure you are providing testimony for the House Judiciary Committee’s Feb 18th meeting on HB 2543.

For those who chose to provide testimony, the key arguments against this bill are:

• The long history of bad record keeping by the OSP
• The frequent prior restraint on a right in the absence of any criminal history
• The lack of response from OSP when they delay a buyer and the complete lack of recourse for persons wrongfully prevented from purchasing firearms.

Under this bill, a single mom with a stalker who cannot rely on protection from any state agency can be told that she has to wait forever to have the means to protect herself and her children.


--Bruce Armstrong

Post Date: 2021-02-09 17:15:49

Last Update: 2022-01-01 18:19:55