Oregon lawmakers approved a bill on Thursday that expands the number of domestic violence abusers who are prohibited from owning firearms.
The measure, dubbed the “boyfriend loophole,” would ban those convicted of domestic violence or stalking from owning guns, regardless of their marital status with the victim.
Rep. Jeff Barker, D-Aloha, said he’s heard the argument that this measure would only affect law-abiding gun owners. But he doesn’t buy it.
“I’m a law-abiding gun owner,” Barker said. “This bill does not affect me because I’m not stalking or committing violent crimes against a former partner.”
Barker, who worked as a police officer for more than three decades, also told his colleagues on the House floor that the debate over the bill conjured up painful memories he had tried to suppress. Barker told a story of an apartment he had visited several times on domestic violence abuse calls.
“We get another call. We go out there. They said there had been a shooting and as I stand here, it comes back to me quite clearly … the apartment looked like a classic movie scene of a fight. There was food on the walls. There were broken dishes,” Barker said. “And the most heartbreaking, there was a young mother dead on the floor. The two children were in the room crying. And the husband was still there, who we did arrest.”
Maybe, Barker said, if there hadn’t been a gun introduced in the situation, the children would still have their mother. The measure was approved on a 37-23 vote.
Rep. Andy Olson, R-Albany, also a former police officer, spoke against the bill. Olson mentioned the 17 people killed by a gunman at a Florida high school this week, adding he believes our nation needs God’s help. Referring to Barker’s story, Olson noted he had also responded to domestic violence calls as a law enforcement officer.
“But I also noticed when I … had to respond to those scenes, baseball bats were used, knives were used, even rocks were used. This bill does not fix the systemic problems our state is experiencing,” Olson said, casting a no vote despite approving it as a member of the House Judiciary Committee.
House Bill 4145 is a priority bill for Gov. Kate Brown.
Rep. Knute Buehler, R-Bend, who is the likely Republican front-runner in the governor’s race, voted in favor of closing the loophole.
"Survivors of domestic violence should not have to live in fear that their abusers will possess a firearm,” Buehler said in a statement. “They deserve to be heard and protected. This legislation makes a small change to existing policy, which was established in 2015 with bipartisan support. It will enhance efforts to keep women and children safe."
The bill now heads to the Senate.
Copyright 2018 Oregon Public Broadcasting
