Prospective petition establishing constitutional carry filed in Oregon
By Garrett Christensen on Monday, March 6th, 2023 in More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
BAKER CITY – The Oregon Secretary of State’s Office received the initial prospective petition filing late last week to establish constitutional carry in Oregon.
Joel Pawloski, Chair of the Marion County Republicans; Kerry McQuisten, former gubernatorial candidate and former mayor of Baker City; and Jean Sampson, former city council member of Clatskanie in Columbia County are the three chief petitioners of this effort.
According to a release from Kerry McQuisten, “The title as listed in the petition information is: “Establishing the right to carry concealed firearms without permit.” The proposed text is as follows: “PARAGRAPH 1. Section 27, Article I of the Constitution of the State of Oregon, is amended to read: Sec. 27. (1) The people shall have the right to bear arms for the [defence] defense of themselves, and the State, but the Military shall be kept in strict subordination to the civil power. (2) The right described in subsection (1) of this section includes the right to carry, without a permit, a concealed firearm.”
Says Pawloski, “Constitutional Carry is an important right for the safety and security of all Oregonians. The failures of leadership in Oregon are endemic. With ballot initiatives, the people of Oregon act as our own legislators under the Oregon Constitution, and it’s time we take the lead on this subject.”
McQuisten concurs. “We’ve watched so many over-the-top gun-grab attempts in Oregon erode our Second Amendment rights. We shouldn’t be asking permission from the government to protect ourselves.”
“Gathering this many signatures is a daunting task,” added Sampson. “But I think Oregonians are ready for this change in the same way that more than half of our U.S. states have been.”
After the prospective petition paperwork is approved by the Secretary of State’s office, the chief petitioners will be issued a signature sheet template to begin collecting at least 1,000 sponsorship signatures, which are necessary to receive a ballot title from the Oregon Attorney General’s Office. After that step is achieved, the process of gathering the more than 160,000 signatures for the initiative to appear on the 2024 ballot will begin.
Additional statements will be released, along with official website information, when the gathering of the first 1,000 signatures begins.”
