Oregon Sheriff: Proposed Gun Control Makes 2A Cost Prohibitive for the Poor

Oregon’s Clatsop County Sheriff Matt Phillips is voicing concern that a November ballot measure requiring a license to buy a gun would prove cost prohibitive for poorer state residents.

The Astorian reports that the ballot measure, Measure 114, “would require a permit from law enforcement, safety training and a background check before a gun purchase.”

The permit would cost $65 for initial issuance and $50 for renewal thereafter.

Sheriff Phillips has two concerns, the first of which is that the permit requirement will make the exercise of the Second Amendment cost prohibitive for low-income residents in the state.

He said, “From an equity perspective, it’s a barrier to people with lower incomes from legally possessing a firearm. It just adds one more expense.”

Phillips is also concerned that the permit requirement could be a budget wrecker for smaller police departments that lack the manpower to handle permit issuance, renewal, and other aspects of Measure 114.

The Portland Mercury notes that other higher profile individuals are equally concerned that police involvement in issuing permits will deter some minorities from going through the steps necessary to be armed for self-defense.

Public Accountability’s executive director Athul Acharya said, “The best world is the world in which almost no one has a gun. The worst world is one in which the Proud Boys and Patriot Prayer have guns, and no one else has a gun. This measure, I think, gets us closer to that world.”

Quinn, a Portland resident who did not wish to give his last name, wrote the Mercury, “Given the undisputed bias of police against folks who are BIPOC, poor, part of the LGBTQ2SIA+ community, and/or have leftist politics, Measure 114 would be a nightmare for all of these groups.”

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and a Turning Point USA Ambassador. AWR Hawkins holds a PhD in Military History with a focus on the Vietnam War (brown water navy), U.S. Navy since Inception, the Civil War, and Early Modern Europe. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.