I recently wrote about the unicorn event of an open carrier having his firearm stolen by an armed robber. It was only the second such event that has been documented. Naturally, numerous pundits sided with those who want their political opponents disarmed. But an important detail was left out of the story . . .
Multnomah County, Oregon, which includes Portland where the robbery took place, requires that openly carried guns must be unloaded. The ordinance also makes it an offense to possess a loaded magazine or speed loader if you don’t have a concealed carry permit. As the open carrier was barely old enough to apply for a CCW permit, it’s highly likely that he didn’t have one yet. None of the is was mentioned in the news coverage.
Although the County website often removes or changes URLs, the most recent one containing the ordinance can be seen here.
While there will be more on this in coming days, including reports from OFF members who attended the hearing, here is the summary:
Open loaded carry will now be illegal in Multnomah County for non-licensees.
Only security guards who work at banks will be allowed to be armed. Armed guards elsewhere would be prohibited (Apparently much of the “gun violence” is being committed by security guards.)
It will now be unlawful for a person without a CHL to have a loaded magazine or speed loader in any public place, including your car, anywhere in the county.
So a severe infringement on the Second Amendment legally required that the firearm owned by the victim wasn’t capable of being fired. Which means that the carrier was walking around with an inoperable gun. It reveals a new perspective on the case.
On a lighter note, did I mention that the pistol was a Walther .22? Have you tried to find .22 ammunition lately?
©2014 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
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