On December 14, a day of national tragedy, and a day when Oregon was still mourning the victims of the Clackamas shooting and preparing a vigil in their honor, a group of Oregon legislators came forward to take a stand against assault weapons.
Ceasefire Oregon volunteers went to the Capitol today in search of legislators who would sponsor a bill to ban the sale of military-style assault weapons—weapons whose only purpose is to kill as many people as possible very quickly. Twelve Oregon legislators stepped forward today to sponsor such legislation in the 2013 session.
The first to step forward were Representative-Elect Jeff Reardon and state Senator Rod Monroe, in whose district the Clackamas Town Center is located. Joining them in support of legislation to get assault weapons off our streets were Senators Ginny Burdick, Jackie Dingfelder, Mark Hass, Chip Shields, and Elizabeth Steiner Hayward, and Representatives Peter Buckley, Lew Frederick, Mitch Greenlick, Tobias Read, and Carolyn Tomei.
Senator Ginny Burdick, long a leader of the fight against assault weapons, has already prepared legislation to ban the oversized ammunition magazines that make these weapons so horrifically deadly. In the coming months, Ceasefire Oregon will work with the sponsoring legislators to craft a bill that will also ban assault weapons.
All of our work today was conducted under a shadow of shock and profound sorrow as news of the Newtown massacre began to filter in to the legislative offices. Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone in Newtown.
We salute the legislators who stepped forward today, and we expect that many more will join them in the coming weeks, as we all begin the long, difficult task of bringing our nation out of this unending nightmare.
