Oregon bill bans domestic abusers from owning firearms
A bill prohibiting domestic abusers and people under restraining orders from owning firearms has become America's first new gun control law since the Feb. 14 Florida high school massacre. "Well done Oregon," Democratic Gov. Kate Brown exclaimed Monday after signing the law on the steps of the state Capitol as some 200 people, including victims of domestic abuse and high school students, applauded and cheered. State Sen. Floyd Prozanski, whose sister was fatally shot by her boyfriend, and Rep. Janeen Sollman, who fled her home as a child when her father was in a violent rage, hugged as they stood behind the governor, the AP reports.
Students from a high school in the Portland suburb of Lake Oswego traveled 40 miles Monday morning to stage a gun-control rally in the state capital, Salem. "We are empowered youth," they chanted, while holding signs that read "End gun violence, our lives matter," and "Together we can end gun violence." The bill that Brown signed Monday closes a loophole in a 2015 law that excluded some abusers from the ban on buying or owning guns and ammunition, such as people who say they don't live with the partner they're abusing or threatening, and those under restraining orders. The measure was introduced before the Florida shooting, but Brown emphasized the bloodshed as she lobbied the Oregon Legislature for passage and signed the bill. (Major retailers are tightening rules on gun sales.)
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