Oregon's radical new anti-gun law is running into opposition its leftist proponents never expected.
Members of Oregon's gay, lesbian, transgendered and queer community tell National Public Radio they want to carry firearms to protect themselves from violence and oppose Measure 114, a successful ballot initiative restricting the number of rounds in a magazine and requiring residents to get permission from law enforcement for a permit to own a firearm.
“I just feel like if I was to go online and say like the police are terrorists or something … [the police] would be like, ‘Well, you seem like you might not be fit for this community to be armed,'” Mia Rose, a “trans person of color and former licensed firearms dealer,” tells NPR.
Rose is correct in that you cannot rightfully be stripped of your right to keep and bear arms over political speech.
“If they were to get that information that you got snatched up off the street [arrested during the Portland protests prompted by the killing of George Floyd in 2020], I would assume that the law would say they could deny your purchase, or deny your right to have a permit,” says Rose.
Rose, tells NPR members of the “LGBTQ+ and black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC)” were initially prompted to carry and use firearms over fears of what could happen to them under President Donald Trump.
But a recent shooting at a Colorado Springs gay nightclub has more members of the community seeking firearms for protection, protection they fear is being stripped from them by anti-gun activists.
“And then every time there's a shooting, more and more people, especially in the queer and trans community, they see this and it's like, OK, let's start to do things,” says Rose.
Other LGBTQ activists fear anti-gun laws will only deter peaceful gun owners while doing nothing to curb white supremacists and other violent groups who already get guns off-market or illegally.
They also don't trust the government to pick and choose who gets to keep and bear arms.
“Given abuses widely documented among law enforcement, [Measure 114] would create an environment ripe for further corruption,” activist Ross Eliot tells NPR.
“Police could easily restrict permits to preferred individuals and deny others without oversight to determine if people from particular racial or ethnic groups, religious backgrounds, LGBTQ status or political affiliations were being screened out,” says Eliot.
While often politically liberal, gays and lesbians have been increasingly open to firearms rights. The Pink Pistols, a pro-gun organization for gays and lesbians, has been around for two decades, preaching “Pick On Someone Your Own Caliber.”
Enforcement of Measure 114 has been blocked by an Oregon judge until a final ruling on a challenge brought by citizens and civil rights groups like Gun Owners of America.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.
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George Floyd was not killed. He died of a Fentanyl overdose.
Don’t worry, Sweetcheeks, you were safer under Trump than under the The Great Restetters.
Under Trump we’re ALL equal and America, great.
Under Hussein, Clinton, Biden, et al, we’re ALL pawns in their elitist agenda, Communists and terrorists, their benefactors.
When the Constitution goes to the streets, we’ll have more mercy on you than you fringe, minority lemmings and flavor of the month, “NEWS” consumers have had on “US”.
Peace, Love and Happiness
Regarding the legislative fiasco created by the Oregon legislature, and the upset it has caused, I wonder as to how it effected recent elections there. There is an old saying that runs as follows. Elections Have Consequences. Might I add the following. The Consequences Can Impact Elections.