Over the past two decades, it has become obvious there is an increasing attempt by many in the state legislature to use the passage of more restrictions on firearms and firearm accessories to undermine the right of self-defense and erode the Second Amendment, which is what the sponsors of SB 554 are proposing. The chief sponsors, all Democrats, are Senators Ginny Burdick (D-Portland), James Manning, Jr. (D-Eugene), Rob Wagner (D-Lake Oswego), and Representatives Rachel Prusak (D-West Linn), and Lisa Reynolds (D-Portland).

These new proposals on conceal carry will not have any effect on crime or violence because criminals tend to ignore the law. Contrast that to the fact that SB 554 will hinder law-abiding citizens from exercising their right to self-defense because they tend to obey the law, which could put them in jeopardy of being an unarmed victim to the armed criminal.

Owning a firearm and having the ability to conceal it makes for a safer society. Guns prevent an estimated 2.5 million crimes a year, or 6,849 every day. Most often, the gun owner never fires the gun, and nobody sheds blood, including the criminal.

Every year, individuals using firearms in their defense prevent 400,000 life-threatening violent crimes. That is more lives saved than by police in a year. In a report released by the Center for Disease Control ordered by President Obama in 2012 following the Sandy Hook Massacre, the agency estimated that the number of crimes prevented by guns could be even higher—as many as 3 million annually, or some 8,200 every day.

Sixty percent of convicted felons admitted that they avoided committing crimes when they knew the victim was armed. Forty percent of convicted felons admitted that they avoided committing crimes when they thought the victim might be armed, which makes conceal carry even more vital for protection.

Moreover, felons report that they avoid entering houses where people are at home because they fear the owner shooting them. Then consider less than 1 percent of firearms are used in the commission of a crime and CHL holders are statistically six times less likely to commit a violent crime than the average citizen who does not have a CHL.


--Rob Taylor

Post Date: 2021-02-22 10:04:52

Last Update: 2021-02-22 10:06:44