Posted: 4/11/2005 9:49:07 PM EDT
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Head line reads: Gun Control Seantor has modest agenda...blah blah blah goes on to talk about Sen. Burdick and her rediculous gun control issues. East Oregonian Link Monday, April 11, 2005 Gun control senator has modest agenda SALEM (AP) — Facing long odds, the Legislature’s leading gun-control advocate is setting her sights low in this year’s session. But Ginny Burdick hopes lawmakers will at least take a new step toward keeping all guns out of schools. The Portland Democrat says she hopes to soon push for a vote in the Senate on a bill that would allow local school districts to prohibit holders of concealed weapons permits from taking firearms into schools. “I think the public strongly supports this measure,” Burdick said in an interview this past week. Oregon is one of 13 states that doesn’t bar all guns from schools, said Shawn Alford, president of the gun control organization Ceasefire Oregon. Burdick has a bit more clout this year as chairwoman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which handles all crime and court-related legislation. But that doesn’t mean she thinks the local-option school gun ban bill, now in her committee, would coast through the Senate. The chamber is controlled by the Democrats, who usually have leaned more toward gun restrictions than have Republicans. Burdick is not very hopeful about any gun restrictions passing in the Republican-run House but hopes to advance the school bill anyway. State law bans taking guns into public buildings, except for people who have qualified for permits to carry concealed weapons. So permit holders can have guns in schools. The measure would let school boards ban all guns on school property and at school activities, and make a violation a felony. Burdick and other supporters of the measure view it as closing a loophole. Gun rights groups say it’s an unnecessary infringement of firearms’ owners’ rights. “It’s a solution looking for a problem,” said Rod Harder, the Oregon lobbyist for the National Rifle Association. “There’s no documentation of a permit holder causing any problem in a school,” Harder said. “Qualified people should be able to have concealed guns. It’s that simple.” Burdick said the measure is not about possible wrongdoing by permit holders but about keeping guns away from children. She raises the possibility of parents or teachers with concealed weapons permits bringing their guns to school, and students getting their hands on them. “I’m talking about Sally the reading mom who happens to leave her purse behind” with a gun inside, Burdick said. “It’s a no-brainer because it involves the safety of Oregon’s children,” said Alford, of Ceasefire Oregon. The school gun ban could move Oregon up a notch on the report cards of the national Brady Campaign Prevent Gun Violence. The group gave Oregon a C-minus this year for its gun regulations. That turned out be a relatively good grade, since 31 states were given D or F. The organization is named for James Brady, the former press secretary for late President Ronald Reagan. Brady was shot and left crippled in a 1981 assassination attempt that also wounded Reagan. “We don’t want easy access of guns for children,” said Eric Howard, a spokesman for the group. Gun-rights advocates argue that a concealed weapons carrier could be of help if a school was attacked. Burdick countered that permit holders don’t qualify as “first responders” in emergencies because they need only one hour of training to get a permit, though Harder of the NRA said many have more instruction. Burdick gained prominence as sponsor of a ballot initiative requiring background checks for firearms bought at gun shows. Voters strongly passed the measure in 2000. |
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Here is Senator Ginny Burdick's contact information: Sen. Ginny Burdick I suggest if you can't attend Wednesday's town hall, you write or email. Be polite, be respectful, chances are we're not going to change her (flawed) belief system, but maybe we can help her understand she's on the wrong side of history on this issue. |
Yeah, "no-brainer" is right. Only people with no brains support this evil witch and her twisted legislation. WTF is up with the East Oregonian? I never read it, but considering their audience, I would think they might be the one paper in the state that would call this woman's shit. "Modest agenda" my ass. Try extremist anti-American agenda. |
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Well each of us should take a minute [several actually] and form a written response. Please error on the side of caution and keep in mind that all things can and will be twisted against us. So feed fire with fire but don't give fuel to a fire other than our own. Feel free to bounce any letters off me: [email protected] I have fax numbers for all newspapers. Patty |