Sponsored by: Resolution submitted by Pete Lee, Albert Lee, and Ami Fox, Multnomah County Approved: 03/17/2019
A RESOLUTION OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF OREGON
WHEREAS, Permit-to-Purchase is a system of regulation for firearm purchases that requires a purchaser to obtain a permit from a law enforcement agency before purchasing a firearm; and
WHEREAS, In order to obtain said permit, the purchaser must first undergo a criminal background check to determine their eligibility, undergo a course of of gun safety training or hunters education course, and be fingerprinted; and
WHEREAS, Permit-to-Purchase programs are generally associated with a 14% reduction in the firearm homicide rate in urban counties, with no change in non-firearm homicides; and
WHEREAS, in particular, a Johns Hopkins study estimates that Connecticut’s permit-to-purchase program reduced firearm homicides by 40% in the first ten years after it was instituted; and
WHEREAS, a similar study showed that Missouri’s repeal of their permit-to-purchase law in 2007 was followed by a 25% increase in firearm homicides, and a 14% increase in the overall homicide rate; and
WHEREAS, Permit-to-Purchase laws are linked to a 10% decrease in domestic homicide; and
WHEREAS, Permit-to-Purchase is shown to have a similarly substantial effect on suicide rates, with Connecticut witnessing a 15% decrease in suicides in the ten years after passage of their law, and Missouri seeing a 16% increase in suicides in the five years after the repeal of their law;
NOW, THEREFORE, THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF OREGON RESOLVES AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. We support Permit-to-Purchase as an effective means of reducing all deaths by firearm, both suicide and homicide; and
Section 2. We call upon the Legislature of the State of Oregon to enact a permit-to-purchase law, requiring all firearm purchasers to obtain gun safety training equivalent to that required for a Concealed Handgun License, undergo a background check, and be fingerprinted, before they obtain a permit to purchase; requiring a permit to purchase or a concealed handgun license for any firearm purchase; and funding a study to evaluate the law’s effects; and
Section 3. We call upon the Congressional delegation of the State of Oregon to propose a similar nationwide permit-to-purchase law, requiring either a permit to purchase or a concealed handgun license before any firearm purchase; and
Section 4. We call upon the DNC to support a similar nationwide permit-to-purchase program in their platform.
