Oregon Senate votes to advance bill banning guns at Capitol, other state facilities
The Oregon Senate voted Thursday to advance a bill banning guns at the Capitol and other state facilities and letting cities, counties, schools and commercial airports decide whether to allow people into their buildings with concealed handgun licenses.
Despite four hours of discussion and overwhelming opposition by gun owners and Republicans, the bill passed, 16-7, and will be move to the House. Four GOP senators were absent from the floor, an increasingly common occurrence by the minority party in attempts to block Democratic priorities by denying quorum.
Besides exacerbating tensions between the parties, the bill also gained lots of attention from Oregonians — more than 2,000 people sent written testimony, most of which opposed the bill.
“People in the eastern part of our state and in the southern part of our state – some of the rural areas – may have a different view of guns than we have in the urban area,” said Sen. Ginny Burdick, a Portland Democrat. “Senate bill 554 gives (local jurisdictions) the option of whether to continue concealed license handgun holders to bring loaded guns into schools and public buildings. The school board gets to decide. That means the community gets to decide. Not just the gun owner.”
Read more: https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2021/03/oregon-senate-votes-to-advance-bill-banning-guns-at-capitol-other-state-facilities.html