After Uvalde, a citizen-led effort to change gun laws in Oregon took off. It could be a model for other states.
A citizen-led effort to institute new gun safety rules and ban high-capacity magazines has taken off in Oregon after mass shootings last month in Uvalde, Texas,
A citizen-led effort to institute new gun safety rules and ban high-capacity magazines has taken off in Oregon after mass shootings last month in Uvalde, Texas, and Buffalo, New York, mobilized volunteers and voters.
A group of faith leaders known as the Lift Every Voice Oregon coalition are gathering signatures to try to get a measure, Initiative Petition 17, on November's ballot. If approved by voters, it would ban high-capacity magazines of more than 10 rounds and require prospective gun buyers to take out a permit, undergo safety training and pass a background check before buying a firearm.
While the effort is years in the making — faith leaders said they first started considering a ballot initiative in 2018 after the Parkland, Florida, shooting — the racist shooting at supermarket in Buffalo, New York, where 10 people where killed, and the massacre of 19 children and two teachers at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, supercharged their campaign. By early May, the group had 35,000 signatures.
As of Monday, they've gathered 114,000 signatures — 30,000 in the last week alone, according to organizers. That's more than the minimum of 112,020 signatures of registered voters they need to be able to put the proposal on Oregon's ballot this year, but organizers say they're working to get more than 140,000 by the end of next week.
“People are grieving and sad — what can we do, what can we do? And they realized in Oregon, we’ve got real legislation that could be a bellwether for the nation on what everyday people can do,” said the Rev. W. J. Mark Knutson, chair of the campaign. “The energy is off the charts.”
Rating: 5