SALEM, Ore. — Democrats in an Oregon Senate committee on Thursday unanimously approved a bill that would allow jurisdictions to decide whether people with concealed handgun license can bring guns into a public building.
Over the opposition of Republicans and numerous gun owners, the Judiciary Committee recommended the bill be passed by the full Senate with amendments. If it passes there, it would then go to the House.
The bill authorizes any city, county, commercial airport, school district, college or university to limit or preclude a concealed handgun licensee from possessing firearms in public buildings.
The issue is important in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol, said Sen. Ginny Burdick, a Portland Democrat. In a virtual public hearing Monday on the bill, she cited a U.S. Department of Homeland Security bulletin on Jan. 27 that warned extremists may be emboldened by the breach of the U.S. Capitol to target elected officials and government facilities.
