If you missed Tuesday’s Appeals Court hearing on Measure 114, you can watch it here:
The court did not make a decision on the constitutionality of the measure and none was expected. This will probably take several months. Meanwhile, the regime media continues to act as the propaganda arm of the state in its reporting about this clearly dangerous and unconstitutional measure.
Tony Aiello, the lawyer who argued on behalf of gun owners, once again, did a spectacular job.
Tony has demonstrated an outstanding grasp of the issue and is amazingly well prepared and articulate in his defense of our rights. We all owe him a debt of gratitude for a job well done.
As usual the state based its arguments on a passionate and determined refusal to read the very simple language of the Second Amendment and Oregon’s Article 1 Section 27.
As with state lawyers across the country, Oregon’s lawyer argued that nothing is protected unless it is “commonly used in self defense.” Now keep in mind, they are not arguing that something can be used in self defense, they are arguing that if it’s not frequently used in self defense it’s not protected.
(And now, after decades of pretending that gun rights are only about hunting, the left is saying that hunting rifles are not protected!)
Of course, a child could read both the US Constitution and the Oregon Constitution and see that neither limits firearms to just self defense. The Second Amendment refers to “militias” and the Oregon Constitution refers to defense of self and the state. It’s troubling that so many law school graduates struggle with reading comprehension.
The state takes the position that most self defense shootings involve fewer than 3 rounds and therefore there can be no defense of magazines that hold more than ten. (Of course, why not ban magazines that hold 3 or more?)
They argue that firearms do not require standard capacity magazines to function and limiting firearms to reduced capacity magazines violates no one’s rights. (As any gun owner knows, you can fire most guns with no magazine, so we should anticipate the next move on the state’s part will be to ban all magazines, which Mz 114 almost does already.)
They also argue that magazines have been used in the commission of crimes, therefore the state has an interest in banning them. The Supreme Court has already made it clear that this argument (no matter how absurd it is) cannot be used to justify an attack on constitutional rights.
But across the country, government agents have simply thumbed their noses at the Supreme Court and keep trotting it out.
One highlight of the hearing was when the state’s lawyer contended that magazines are not “arms” and therefore were not protected. One of the judges immediately responded that they were “components” of firearms, an observation few judges have made. The state’s lawyer at first acknowledged that and then tried to walk it back. But it was an indication that the judges were paying attention and at least asking thoughtful questions.
As we have noted before, no matter what decision the court reaches, there is nothing to stop the Oregon legislature from simply enacting all these bans themselves. The legislature is free to enact clearly unconstitutional legislation and then simply say “sue us” and the whole circus begins again.
As you know, the Democrat candidate for Attorney General has stated in no uncertain terms that he intends to enact and defend as many attacks on gun rights as he can. The Republican candidate, Will Lathrop, has not taken a position on 114 in spite of numerous inquires from us and others.
It’s safe to say that the battle for gun rights in an increasingly dangerous state will be going on for some time. If you want to contribute to this battle you can make a donation directly to the lawyers fighting it. Please consider doing so.
Their contact information follows:
Tyler Smith & Associates PC
181 N Grant St Suite 212
Canby OR 97013
https://ruralbusinessattorneys.com/
www.givesendgo.com/StateCourt_StopMeasure114
Kevin Starrett is the executive director of the Oregon Firearms Federation. oregonfirearms.org