HB 3513 Gun storage grants used as suicide prevention

The bill creates a convoluted method for people in mental health crisis to be able to temporarily store their guns with others or gun dealers.  It “Directs Oregon Health Authority to establish grant program to fund storage of firearms pursuant to firearm hold agreement. Appropriates moneys to authority to fund grants.”

We have no argument with people storing their guns off site if they feel the need. However, this is another tax payer funded boondoggle that could be far more easily solved by simply revoking the idiotic law that makes doing that illegal. The state creates a problem and then wants you to spend millions to “fix” it. 

This bill will also require that any training course for a concealed handgun license must include the “use of firearm hold agreements for firearm suicide prevention.” That means not only the regular CHL classes taught by NRA instructors, but also any of the hunter safety classes or law enforcement classes that qualify. That means that any class taught in any other state that used to qualify no longer will.

We were told there would be an amendment to address this problem. So far there is not one.  One Republican House Rep has already removed her name from the bill because of this issue.