SB 5 VOTE:NO – Died In Committee
Status (overview) of bill:https://olis.leg.state.or.us/liz/2019R1/Measures/Overview/SB0005
Committee assigned to bill:https://olis.leg.state.or.us/liz/2019R1/Committees/SJUD/Overview
This bill makes both the shooting range and the shooter strictly liable for injuries resulting from bullets that leave the boundaries of a shooting range, removes the prohibition on local governments from regulating shooting ranges, and allows an injured person to bring civil action against a city or county that fails to regulate a shooting range after receiving notice of a ‘dangerous condition.’
Personal Choice and Responsibility
People should be held responsible for irresponsible behavior, including allowing bullets to stray outside a shooting range. But while a good concept, this bill is dangerously broad – see below.
Limited Government
the term ‘dangerous condition’ is not defined, and that creates a real problem. Unfortunately there are individuals who fear firearms and believe that any shooting taking place is a ‘dangerous condition.’ Under this bill, if they presented such concern to a local government, that government, under fear of being held liable, could go to a shooting range and enforce any regulation they felt necessary to ensure that no bullet ever leaves the range. The concept here is not bad but ‘dangerous condition’ needs to be defined, as well as the possible regulations which the government could enforce. Requiring each shooter to be inside a concrete box for instance, would not be reasonable.
When was the last time anyone got hurt from bullets leaving the boundaries of a shooting range? Here’s a bill “solution” that’s looking for a problem. Next thing you know, they’ll use this law to restrict anyone from carrying out their bullets from the firing range to prevent the bullets from “leaving the boundaries” of the shooting range. Don’t put it past them!