Close the Gaps in Our Gun Laws

Oregon needs to close the gaps in our gun laws! - Close the gap: Allow judges to order firearm restriction with temporary restraining orders. Oregon law prohibits gun possession by most domestic abusers under longer-term restraining orders, but does not cover the emergency period during which a temporary order is in place—and before the hearing for a longer-term order can occur. The period immediately after a separation can be acutely dangerous for a domestic violence victim. State laws requiring or allowing gun prohibition for abusers in these emergency settings are associated with a 16% reduction in intimate-partner homicide with a firearm. Oregon needs to allow a judge to order that an abuser’s gun be removed at an ex parte temporary protection order hearing. - Close the gap: Prohibit gun purchases for anyone with a warrant. Federal law prohibits gun possession by people who have fled from prosecution, but a separate state prohibition is important to ensure the law is enforced properly. In 2017 the Justice Department changed its legal interpretation of “fugitive from justice” to say it pertains only to wanted people who have crossed state lines. Under this new definition, the existence of an arrest warrant on its own is no longer enough to deny the sale or transfer of a firearm to an individual. - Close the gap: Require prompt firearm removal when a person becomes prohibited. We must be proactive and identify any gun owner who has become prohibited for any reason and ensure that person is disarmed promptly. When an abusive partner has access to a gun, a domestic violence victim is five times more likely to be killed. Prompt firearm removal protects the public by ensuring a person cannot go home after a conviction or restraining order and access illegal guns. California’s system performs a daily review of all people with a new firearm prohibition, checking their names against sales databases—and then often working with local officials to rapidly remove any guns. The program removed over 8,000 illegal firearms from 2017 to 2019 alone. - Close the gap: Prohibit people with hate crime convictions from having firearms. Federal law bars nearly all people with felony convictions from having guns, but many hate crimes are misdemeanors—meaning that, under federal law, many people who commit violent acts and are convicted of hate crimes may still be legally armed. Evidence shows hate crimes become more deadly when firearms are involved. Either make hate crime convictions into felonies or extend gun laws to reach hate crimes.