Oregon, Washington lawmakers respond to Uvalde tragedy amid renewed push for gun control
PORTLAND, Ore. — Local lawmakers are reacting to Tuesday's atrocity in the Lone Star State, where a gunman went on a shooting rampage in an elementary school killing 19 students and two teachers.
Democrats were quick to take to social media. Oregon Gov. Kate Brown questioned how many more people have to die before Congress does something.
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden said he was sickened by the mass shooting and called out conservatives for blocking "common-sense" legislation.
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley said gun reform bills needed to be signed into law immediately.
One bill currently sitting in the U.S. Capitol is HR-8. The legislation would expand background checks for gun purchases and would close a loophole that allows a gun sale to continue with an incomplete background check, as long as three business days had passed.
The bill passed the House in 2021. Every Democrat but one voted yes. Only eight Republicans voted in favor of the legislation. Two local Republicans are some of the many who voted against the bill.
Reps. Jaime Herrera-Beutler and Cliff Bentz voted no on HR-8.
In a statement provided to KATU, Herrera-Beutler, who represents southwest Washington, explained why she opposed HR-8.
While H.R. 8 may be well-intended it would almost certainly not have stopped either massacre as both shooters appear to have purchased their firearms lawfully. We need actions that are both effective and can earn bipartisan support to get over the finish line. While I supported solutions that were signed into law like the Fix NICS Act to penalize government agencies for not complying with the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, and the STOP School Violence Act, our work is nowhere near complete. Whether it’s more funding for school resource officers or training and hiring more mental health providers, we must find new solutions to get unstable individuals resources before they get to the point of crisis.
HR-8 now sits the hands of the Senate, where it needs bipartisan support.
On Wednesday, in an interview with KATU's sister station KTVL in southern Oregon, Bentz, who represents Oregon's District 2, was asked about his stance on gun safety following the Uvalde tragedy.
"My stance on gun safety has always been to do our best to protect our Second Amendment rights, while at the same time joining the vast majority of Americans, and I mean like 95%, and doing a number of things," Bentz said. "One of the things that should be done, I’ve recommended many times, is that we begin to make sure that our schools are appropriately protected so that the horror and tragedy and the horrible situation that occurred in Texas does not occur again."
There's also renewed pressure for local changes. Lift Every Voice Oregon (LEVO) is feverously trying to get tens of thousands of signatures for IP-17.
Rev. W. J. Mark Knutson is a pastor at Augustana Luthern Church in Portland. He's also the chair of LEVO and a chief petitioner for IP-17 and IP-18, which he says are "not about Second Amendments rights. They're about public safety."
Knutson says prayers are not enough and in the midst of this mourning is the time to call for change.
"Your faith is an act in love, and love is a verb," Knutson said. "That means you need to take action in places where things need to change."
LEVO is focusing mostly right now on IP-17, as the organization wants to get it onto the 2022 November ballot.
IP-17, in part, bans the sale of large capacity magazines, what investigators say the Uvalde, Texas elementary school shooter used. It would also require a permit to purchase guns.
Knutson says if voters pass IP-17, it will set the groundwork for IP-18.
The organization will try to get IP-18 passed as legislation in 2023. IP-18, Knutson says, would "ban the sale and manufacturer of assault-style weapons. That's both handgun weapons that can be modified and rifles, and it would also then restrict how you could use them. If you already had them, you could not take them out publicly. You could only take them to a shooting range or keep them at home."