Testimony on HB3075

My name is John Jones and I am one of the owners of Oregon’s Indoor Shooting Range in Lebanon, Oregon. I would like to submit this testimony in opposition of HB 3075, HB3075-1 and Measure 114. While I understand the desire to put into place legislation that will curb firearm violence, this bill is not the answer.

This bill, while it may sound great on paper, will only accomplish two things.

First, it will make some currently law-abiding citizens into felons. There will be numerous people who will fail to adhere to it, will continue to possess firearms with illegal capacities, or will participate in straw purchases from his buddy next door. etc. The negative effect that this will have will only likely increase firearm injuries, because it will take the customers out of the stores with experts and put them on the streets purchasing firearms. See, at Oregon’s Indoor Shooting Range, like many other firearm dealers, we seek to educate our customers, including firearms training and courses, ensuring they understand the mechanics of the firearm, etc. This is not like walking into a store to try on a pair of jeans and simply walking up to purchase them. We aim to educate our customers. In fact, at our facility we have a state-of-the-art training systems for both law enforcement and civilian use.

Second, it will put the civilians, or “good guys” at an unfair advantage in self-defensive situations. One key thing that we do teach at our range is defensive handgun practices. The key emphasis on this course is first pray that you never have to use this training, second, prepare that you will. Working at a range, I get to see all kinds of shooters and enthusiasts. I see some that with 10 rounds may land 4 on a paper target. This is not in a defensive situation where there are stressors, etc. So now, we have a “good guy” who has an intense amount of stressors and we are then asking him to potentially have to defend himself against a “bad guy” who will likely have him out gunned and have plenty of magazine capacity. See, the criminals that we need to curb this violence from do not care what the law specifically says. If the criminals did, we could just enact laws that say it was illegal to murder people, or illegal to burglarize homes, or to commit armed robbery.

Another great example of this is the NFA Act that says you cannot convert firearms to fully automatic weapons without going through the ATF. However, we know that people are ordering “glock switches” or other devices left and right off the internet, because they do not care what the law has to say.

If the legislators want to really curb firearm violence, we need to take a realistic approach, which should include severe penalties for those who commit violence with firearms or without them. We need to address the mental health of our citizens, which will start first and foremost by addressing the drug addiction, which is a direct cause of much of the mental illness we have here in Oregon. We need to empower our citizens to protect themselves and enact a stand your ground doctrine. We need to encourage firearm training, as well as safety courses, not just simply how to safely load, unload, lock up and fire a weapon.

If simply sitting around and creating a law could solve the problem, it would have been solved decades ago. It is no coincidence that the more restrictive we have gotten with law abiding citizens and lenient with criminals that our violence and crime has soared through the roof. This bill is just another example of taking power from the law-abiding citizens and putting the criminals in a place of advantage.

In closing, if either of these bills are enacted, it would just likely make our range more money, as we will work to offer the courses required, including the live fire component, required by the legislation, providing us another revenue source. However, our goal here is not to raise the profits of the store at the expense of setting the “good guys” up for disadvantage should they ever find themselves in a life-or-death situation where they need to defend themselves.

I would encourage each legislator that is casting a vote, either in support or opposition to come to Lebanon to be our guest and visit the range. Spend some time on our training system, AccuShoot LFX, and ask questions of our staff prior to casting your vote. Go into this situation well informed because these decisions you make for us have consequences. Consider the consequences that Measure 110 reaped on Oregon. A measure that I assume started with good intentions that had dire consequences.

Sincerely,

John Jones, Managing Member
Oregon’s Indoor Shooting Range, LLC
580 S. Main Street – Lebanon, Oregon 97355
[email protected]