The Gun Owners' Caucus of the Democratic Party of Oregon had its first meeting today. The group caught a lot of flak and was derided as another American Hunters and Shooters Association - an attempt by anti-gun Democratic Party leaders to take on a patina of "gun cred".
I'm happy to say that this does not seem to be the case.
The group had its first official meeting in the local Democratic Party headquarters in Northeast Portland. About sixteen people showed up. All but one is a gun owner. About half were from East County or other rural areas. State Rep. Jeff Barker was kind enough to show up. Mr. Barker is a retired police officer with an NRA A+ rating. In fact, when anti-gun Ginny Burdick tried to get his support for a bill to give Oregon its own AWB he allowed as how he wouldn't be able to support her because he had three of his own in the gun safe at home.
One of the first orders of business was credentialling the membership. The requirements are pretty simple. You have to be a registered Oregon Democrat and affirm the following resolution officially adopted last year by the DPO:
As Zak the Chair of the GOC says it's more an issue of geography than Party. Romney, Giuliani, Kennedy and Lautenberg represent very similar constituencies. Their positions on emotionally charged issues are likely to be similar. A Representative from Wyoming or Josephine County, Oregon is going to have different ones. The main point of this caucus is to encourage the election of pro-gun Democrats and educate the fence-sitting or uninformed majority about the facts on Second Amendment and firearms issues from a pro-gun position.
Maybe it's hopeless. Maybe the reins are so firmly held by the Upper Right and Lower Left corners of the map that absolutely no change is possible. Those who disagree with that overly pessimistic view are happy to spend some time bringing a measure of sanity back into the DP at the State and local levels. The members of the caucus are vocal committed Democrats who strongly support the Right to Keep and Bear Arms.
I'm happy to say that this does not seem to be the case.
The group had its first official meeting in the local Democratic Party headquarters in Northeast Portland. About sixteen people showed up. All but one is a gun owner. About half were from East County or other rural areas. State Rep. Jeff Barker was kind enough to show up. Mr. Barker is a retired police officer with an NRA A+ rating. In fact, when anti-gun Ginny Burdick tried to get his support for a bill to give Oregon its own AWB he allowed as how he wouldn't be able to support her because he had three of his own in the gun safe at home.
One of the first orders of business was credentialling the membership. The requirements are pretty simple. You have to be a registered Oregon Democrat and affirm the following resolution officially adopted last year by the DPO:
As Zak the Chair of the GOC says it's more an issue of geography than Party. Romney, Giuliani, Kennedy and Lautenberg represent very similar constituencies. Their positions on emotionally charged issues are likely to be similar. A Representative from Wyoming or Josephine County, Oregon is going to have different ones. The main point of this caucus is to encourage the election of pro-gun Democrats and educate the fence-sitting or uninformed majority about the facts on Second Amendment and firearms issues from a pro-gun position.
Maybe it's hopeless. Maybe the reins are so firmly held by the Upper Right and Lower Left corners of the map that absolutely no change is possible. Those who disagree with that overly pessimistic view are happy to spend some time bringing a measure of sanity back into the DP at the State and local levels. The members of the caucus are vocal committed Democrats who strongly support the Right to Keep and Bear Arms.