Controversial Senate Bill 941 passed the Oregon House yesterday by a 32-28 vote. Mandating that all private gun sales take place through licensed firearm dealers, the measure will ultimately do nothing to prevent criminals from illegally obtaining firearms and will only impact the law-abiding.
Many gun owners have already stated that they will no longer be law-abiding as they would refuse to comply with the law. And some sheriffs say they have neither the inclination nor resources to enforce the law. Even gun store owners aren’t sure whether they’ll agree to run the checks.
Nonetheless, SB 941 now heads to the desk of Gov. Kate Brown, who has previously voiced support for expanding background checks. We can only hope she’ll recognize before signing that this measure won’t make the public safer—it will only make gun ownership more inconvenient for the law-abiding.
