The Oregon House of Representatives declined to move forward with Senate Bill 1550@@http://gov.oregonlive.com/bill/2012/SB1550/@@ on Friday, a proposal that would have banned people from carrying firearms from school and college campuses, even if the person had a concealed handgun permit.
Sen. Ginny Burdick,@@http://www.leg.state.or.us/burdick/@@ D-Portland, proposed the bill. After it did not initially pass, Burdick offered to include an amendment to the bill that gave schools the ability to opt out.@@why cave into the gun-lovers?@@
“The people who actually work and attend the schools are the people who ought to be making the decisions,” she said. “There may be a case where there is a local school or university that really did decide that they wanted people to be able to carry guns with concealed handgun licenses.”@@nutjobs. they think this is still a lawless country? get civilized, people@@
Sen. Floyd Prozanski,@@http://www.leg.state.or.us/prozanski/@@ a Democrat who represents South Lane and North Douglas Counties (which includes Eugene) and is co-chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, declared last week that all gun-related legislation is over for the current, abbreviated session.
“Many of my colleagues have issues regulating guns as it pertains to adults as opposed to children,” he said. “(Senate Bill 1550) was a casualty to the co-chairs failing to abide by their understanding and agreement with each other.”
The bills that were going to move forward had to be scheduled for a work session this week, and Burdick was not surprised that her bill did not move forward. According to her, the short legislative session should be devoted primarily to budget adjustments and major policy issues that have more urgency to them, such as health care transformation.
Kelly Miller,@@http://directory.uoregon.edu/telecom/directory.jsp?p=findpeople%2Ffind_results&m=student&d=person&b=name&s=Kelly+Miller@@ a University junior, does not support students carrying guns on campus.
“I wouldn’t like to have them around me without my knowledge,” she said. “Campus-wise, I just don’t see a reason for having a gun. It depends on the situation, but overall I think it’s not the best idea.”
There were many gun-related bills in this session, which is why Burdick said she introduced this one as well. She has been pushing for this issue intermittently since 2005.
The University is also currently addressing whether the Department of Public Safety should have guns on campus. Burdick’s legislation would not have affected whether or not they are allowed to carry guns.
“I’m not opposed to armed law enforcement on campus. I think that the school should be able to decide,” Burdick said. “But when you talk about trained law-enforcement officers, that’s a different discussion than people wandering around with guns.”
For now, the bill will have to wait for another legislative session.
“I’m not disappointed with the decision to put it off, I think it’s the correct decision right now,” Burdick said. “But I’m no less committed to the bill.”