Everytown, Oregon Moms Demand Action Applaud Oregon Senate Passage of SB 941, Release New TV Ads Calling for House to Pass Legislation Requiring Background Checks on All Gun Sales

81 Percent of Oregonians Support Background Checks on All Gun Sales; Ads Can Be Seen Here

SALEM, Ore. – Everytown for Gun Safety and the Oregon chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America today applauds the Oregon State Senate’s passage of Senate Bill 941, legislation to require criminal background checks on all gun sales – including sales between strangers who meet online – with a 17-13 vote. Upon the Senate’s passage of this legislation – the first time the Oregon Senate has voted to fully close the gun background check loophole – Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund and Oregon Moms Demand Action are also releasing three new ads that will begin airing statewide on Oregon television tomorrow calling on the House to pass SB 941. The ads can be seen here.

“Oregon Moms are proud to see that the Senate stood on the side of public safety by voting to close the loophole that makes it easy for convicted felons and other dangerous people to get guns,” said Anneliese Davis, volunteer chapter leader with the Oregon chapter of Moms Demand Action. “Now it’s time for the House to do the same and take this important step to help keep our families and communities safe from gun violence.”

Everytown’s new television ads (which can be seen here) feature Retired Portland Police Chief Mike Reese and gun owner and gun violence survivor Paul Kemp calling on the legislature to expand background checks.

“Criminals [in Oregon] can still get guns from strangers they meet online – with no background check and no questions asked,” says Chief Reese in the ad. “The legislature should close this loophole. Background checks save lives. It’s time for Oregon to act.”

“It’s my right as a law-abiding citizen to own a gun, but with rights come responsibilities. Criminals have lost that right – but because of a loophole criminals can still buy a gun from a stranger they meet online, no background check, no questions asked,” says Paul Kemp in another ad. “Oregon legislature should close this loophole and stop more criminals from getting guns. It’s time to act.”

Independent polling by The Oregonian has shown that 81 percent of Oregonians support background checks on all gun sales. As part of Everytown’s campaign for background checks in Oregon, the country’s largest gun violence prevention organization with more than 49,000 supporters in Oregon released original research including “Officers Down” (available here), an analysis of FBI data that revealed more than half of Oregon police shot to death in a 30-year span were murdered by people who were likely prohibited from possessing guns, and “No Questions Asked” (available here), which found that one in 18 Oregonians seeking guns in unlicensed online sales is prohibited from buying guns.

Background checks are proven to help prevent crime and save lives. In states with background checks on all handgun sales, 46 percent fewer women are killed by intimate partners, there are 48 percent fewer gun suicides, and 48 percent fewer law enforcement officers are killed with handguns.